Brandon Leibrandt received his bachelor’s degree last spring in sport administration from Florida State University and was two months away from becoming a father for the first time. That’s when the left-handed pitcher made a declaration: Two months to get back into affiliated baseball or it was time to put the degree to work. “I set a hard cap in 2024 [while I was in independent ball] that when my son was born in July, I’m done,” the 32-year-old recalled. “I couldn’t imagine my life where my wife gives birth and I’m like, ‘I’m going to go play indy ball.’ “I couldn’t go get a job for those two months and go right on paternity leave,” he said. “So, I said that I’ll go these two months [in indy ball] and know I gave everything I’ve got. Baseball happens in weird ways.” Leibrandt had a 0.93 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in four starts with High Point in independent ball before the Reds signed him. He started 17 games for Triple-A Louisville last summer before the Reds called him up for two appearances. The Yankees signed him shortly after the World Series. He posted a 2.19 ERA in four spring training appearances with the big league club and was Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Opening Night starter Friday night at Coca-Cola Park against his former club. Leibrandt is a three-time survivor of independent ball who has battled back after four major surgeries. He has a college degree waiting to be used in a career in wealth management and perhaps a future in coaching middle school or high school baseball by the time his 9-month-old son, Lou, gets there. But now he is chasing for the final time his dream of sticking on a major league roster. “I know at my best that I can compete at the big-league level,” Leibrandt said. “There is some stuff at each level, different things you have to get accustomed to. There are things at Triple-A and another curve in the big leagues. I want to give myself enough opportunity to where I can learn and adjust. I feel like that would be one of my stronger suits, to be able to face hitters and know what they are trying to do off me and adjust.” Leibrandt is in position to do that. He threw well in his 2025 debut, allowing a run on four hits and four walks in four innings of Friday’s 5-4 loss to the IronPigs. The Yankees have injuries and uncertainty among their starting pitchers. Gerrit Cole is out for the year with Tommy John surgery. Luis Gil is out at least three months with a lat strain. Clark Schmidt is dealing with a shoulder injury. Leibrandt’s next major league opportunity could come at any time. Leibrandt appeared destined for the major leagues in 2018 while with the IronPigs. He still has the franchise record with 32 2/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. But it was also during that time when the Atlanta resident was dealing with multiple injuries. The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder, who already had left shoulder surgery, was dealing with pain in his right hip and left elbow. Looking back, Leibrandt admitted he would have done things differently that year. “I would not try to pitch through as much stuff,” he said, “speak up to nip it in the bud early rather than go under the knife for four surgeries.” Leibrandt’s 2018 season ended when he had surgeries to repair the torn labrum in his right hip and torn ulnar collateral ligament on his left elbow. The fourth surgery came in November 2020, after he felt the same pain in his left hip that he had previously in the right hip. Leibrandt had to reinvent himself again. It was a multiyear process that required patience amid several stops in several organizations. “It’s been a bit of a grind to find that new normal because of not having as much range of motion that I was used to having,” he said. “I was trying to refigure out where the ball was coming out again. In 2021, 2022, those were some grinds. “I was out there pitching and was healthy, but I was not myself. I’d look in the mirror and think, ‘Baseball is a lot harder than I remember,’ ” he said. After spending time during the COVID-altered 2020 season with Somerset (N.J.) in independent ball, Leibrandt was signed by the Marlins. He appeared in five games for Miami before spending all of 2021 in the Marlins’ minor league system with mixed results. He was in the Cubs system in 2022 before facing his second reality check in 2023, when he signed with High Point in independent ball. Leibrandt then appeared in one game in the Dominican Winter League before shutting it down. He started 2024 back at High Point in a final attempt to reach the majors, where his father Charlie played 394 games over 14 seasons with four teams. “Those were definitely some tough times,” he admitted. “Some self-evaluation. Having to go to indy ball, having to pitch my way out of indy ball.” Leibrandt’s journey has been made easier by having the support of his family, especially wife Kelli, a neonatal intensive care nurse and real estate agent. The two have been together for a decade and married for the last three. The expanding family, which includes a goldendoodle puppy, bought a house recently because “we couldn’t put [the dog] in the stroller so we had to get a yard.” Leibrandt was back at Florida State last spring working on his future when his analytics class was discussing the 2019 minor league season, a flashback to a missed year for the lefty. Perhaps, it was a sign that he needed to give pro baseball one more chance. It also gave him an opportunity to develop a new pitch, a splitter. “It took a couple years to get the exact action on it,” he said. “It took off last year.” Leibrandt used to throw a slurve and a straight change. He’s now got a sweeper, curveball and a cutter in his repertoire, which helped him get out of a couple of tough situations in Friday’s night’s game. “I feel good now,” he said. “I want to go out knowing I was the pitcher I was capable of being, not just because I didn’t feel I was myself. I thought I owed that to myself. That way there were no ifs, ands or buts.” Morning Call senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com. ...read more read less