José DeLeón, a former MLB pitcher who played 13 seasons in the major leagues with five teams, died after a battle with unspecified health problems. He was 63 years old.
DeLeón died Sunday at a hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, said his Dominican Winter League team, Los Leones del Esgido. The team added that DeLeón was battling health issues without providing further information.
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Chicago White Sox pitcher José Deleon pitches against the Angels at Anaheim Stadium in California. (Getty Images)
The Dominican Republic native who played high school baseball in New Jersey made his MLB debut in 1983 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would make at least 25 starts in most of his first 10 seasons in the majors. He led the National League in strikeouts in 1989 for the St. Louis Cardinals with 201.
But as the 1993 season progressed, he found himself coming out of the bullpen more. He appeared in 35 games and only made three starts between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox.
He spent the last three seasons of his career as a reliever.
José DeLeón of the Pirates pitches at Three Rivers Stadium in 1985 in Pittsburgh. (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
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DeLeón played for the Pirates, Cardinals, White Sox, Phillies and Montreal Expos from 1983 to 1995. He finished his career with 1,594 strikeouts in 415 appearances.
He made only one postseason appearance, in 1993. He allowed one run in 4.2 innings of work in two games. He struck out six.
José De León with the Chicago White Sox in 1995. (Ron Vesely/Getty Images)
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“Saddened to learn of the passing of former @MLB RHP Jose DeLeon over the weekend at age 63,” former White Sox official Dan Evans wrote on X. “We were together for five years with the @WhiteSox. He “He was consistently a kind person. Person with a great smile. Oh, God, he had an extraordinary straight life and was very versatile.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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