Jose DeLeon, former pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos and Philadelphia Phillies, has died at the age of 63.
The former MLB star died after a battle with cancer, according to MLB insider Héctor Gómez. DeLeon played 13 seasons in the MLB and held the National League record for most strikeouts in 1989.
Rest in Paradise Jose.
De Leon pitched for the Cardinals from 1988 to 1992.
His best season with the team was 1989 when he went 16-12 with 201 K’s and a 3.05 ERA over 244.2 innings. #STLCards https://t.co/xEziKFbFnQ pic.twitter.com/tCSsONkLZi
— Augie Nash (@AugieNash) February 25, 2024
Although he did not win a single World Series, the right-handed pitcher struck out a record 201 batters in 1989 with the St. Louis Cardinals, only the second Cardinals pitcher to post back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons, according to the Society of American Baseball Research.
The former MLB pitcher was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1979 draft. DeLeon began his MLB career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and finished it with the Montreal Expos 13 years later, according to Baseball Almanac. (RELATED: MLB Team Forcing Players To Shave But Allowing Them To Wear Gigantic Chains Makes No Sense)
We discussed the recently departed Jose DeLeon’s career a little over a year ago. He was nowhere near as bad a pitcher as his win/loss record would suggest. RIP Jose De Leon. https://t.co/fARMmKDobR
— 1988 Topps Podcast (@Topps1988) February 25, 2024
DeLeon had an overall record of 86-119 with 1,594 strikeouts and a 3.76 ERA, reports Penn Live.