Baseball Welcomes Home Two New Staff Members

Washington, IL native Andrew Werner named pitching coach, former Brave Jason Leblebijian volunteer assistant

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 8/20/2019 8:41:00 AM

PEORIA, IL – Two individuals familiar to the Central Illinois baseball community, and both with Major League Baseball experience, have joined the Bradley Baseball coaching staff for the 2019-20 season. Andrew Werner has been named Bradley Baseball pitching coach, while former Braves shortstop Jason Leblebijian has returned to the program as volunteer coach, according to an announcement today by 12th-year Bradley head coach Elvis Dominguez.

Pronunciation Guide: Leblebijian – leb leh BEE GEE in

"I am really excited to have Andrew and Jason join our coaching staff," said Dominguez. "The big winners will be our players, who will see the benefits of working with two Big Leaguers on a daily basis.

"Not only were they both accomplished college players, but each had exceptional professional playing careers," Dominguez added. "More importantly, though, as talented as they were on the field, they are even better people who will serve as great mentors for the young men in our program."

A native of Washington, IL and a graduate of both Washington Community High School and Illinois Central College, Werner completed his collegiate career at NCAA Division II University of Indianapolis, before embarking on a professional career that began in the independent Frontier League and continued all the way to the Majors with the San Diego Padres. A native of Arlington Heights, IL and graduate of Prospect High School, Leblebijian was Bradley's starting shortstop from 2010-12 before being selected as a junior in the 25th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He spent seven years in the Blue Jays organization and was an invite to the squad's Major League spring training camp in 2018.

Werner joins the Bradley staff after serving the previous two years at pitching coach at NCAA Division II Young Harris College in northern Georgia. In his first year with the Mountain Lions, Werner helped the Young Harris staff lower its team earned run average by two-and-a-half runs and complete the 2018 season ranked 23rd nationally with a 2.52 strikeouts-to-walk ratio. For an encore in 2019, Werner helped Young Harris earn its first-ever Peach Belt Conference Tournament title, a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in program history and a final No. 29 national ranking by Collegiate Baseball, the first national ranking in program history. The Mountain Lions were 36-21 in 2019 with a 4.74 staff ERA, .269 opponent batting average.

Werner began his collegiate coaching career as the recruiting coordinator and head assistant coach at ICC in 2016, then spent the 2017 campaign at USC-Aiken, helping the Pacers to a 40-15 record, a NCAA Division II Tournament appearance and a No. 23 ranking in Collegiate Baseball's national poll. Led by a pair of MLB draft picks, the 2017 USC-Aiken pitching staff led all of NCAA Division II with 563 strikeouts, while also finishing third in strikeouts per nine innings (10.3) and 16th in strikeouts-to-walk ratio (2.83).

Werner appeared in 19 games during his two seasons (2006-07) at ICC, posting an 8-7 record with a 4.25 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 106.0 innings. In his two years at Indianapolis, Werner was 12-7 with a 4.07 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 148.1 innings.

Having graduated from Indianapolis with his degree in criminal justice, Werner began his professional playing career by signing with the independent Evansville Otters in 2009. He pitched for both the Windy City Thunderbolts and Evansville in 2010, before signing with Padres organization in 2011.

A left-handed pitcher, Werner rapidly rose through the San Diego organization, splitting the 2011 campaign between Class A Fort Wayne and Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore. He started the 2012 season with the Double A San Antonio Missions and made four starts for Triple-A Tucson, before cracking the Padres Major League roster. In his eight starts for San Diego in 2012, Werner was 2-3 with a 5.58 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 40.0 innings. He was traded to the Oakland Athletics following the 2012 season and pitched for two seasons in the Oakland farm system, before beginning his coaching career as player-coach for the Ottawa Champions in the independent Can-Am League in 2015.

Playing all four infield positions, Leblebijian reached the Triple-A level in 2017 and represented the Buffalo Bisons as the International League's starting third baseman in the Triple-A All-Star Game in both 2017 and 2018. He opted for free agency after the 2018 season, signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks last winter, but retired during spring training. In 650 career minor league games, Leblebijian hit .256 with 52 home runs and 302 RBIs. He also played in 38 MLB spring training games spanning the 2016, 2017 and 2018 preseasons. As a Major League invitee to Toronto's 2018 spring training, he hit .260 with three doubles, a home run and five RBIs in his 26 spring games with the Blue Jays.

A member of Dominguez's first recruiting class at Bradley, Leblebijian played in 155 games, 152 as a starter, for the Braves from 2010-12, batting .287 with 76 RBIs during his three-year collegiate career. He was an honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in both 2010 and 2011, while his teammates chose him for Bradley's Troy Guidotti Hustle Award in both 2011 and 2012.

Werner and Leblebijian join Dominguez and associate head coach Kyle Trewyn on Bradley's 2019-20 coaching staff. After going 31-19 in 2019 with an 11-10 MVC record, the Braves are coming off consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time since 1992-96 and consecutive winning Valley seasons for the first time since 1986-87.

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