For Brent Leach, it’s sayonara as a Dodger

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OK, here’s one guy who won’t be the Dodgers’ second left-hander out of the bullpen:

Brent Leach.

The 28-year-old reliever saw some time with the Dodgers in 2009, not that it was particularly memorable.

He couldn’t get it turned around last year at triple-A Albuquerque and has now signed with the Yokohama BayStars and been designated for assignment by the Dodgers.

The Dodgers needed to clear space on their 40-man roster to make room for reliever Matt Guerrier, which at least leaves John Lindsey to live another day.

Leach came up in April of ’09, got 20 1/3 innings of work and left with a 5.75 earned-run average. He did, however, limit left-handed hitters to a .156 batting average, so it looked as if there could be some situational usage.

Last season he began the season as a starter at double-A Chattanooga, going 7-3 with a 4.57 ERA. He was bumped up to Albuquerque, where mostly he was used as a reliever again, finishing 3-2 with a 6.35 ERA (26 appearances, three starts).

Leach, of course, would not be the first pitcher to struggle in the high altitude of Albuquerque. Nor the first to head to Japan when things didn’t work out with the Dodgers.

The only left-hander assured of being in the Dodgers bullpen next season is Hong-Chih Kuo.

-- Steve Dilbeck