Southpaw James Leverton joins the Jackals in 2011 after spending his first three professional seasons in the Chicago Cubs system.

Leverton split the 2010 campaign between three Cubs minor league affiliates, combining to go 10-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 49 relief appearances. He also notched nine saves and finished 28 games. Leverton began the year with the Single-A Peoria Chiefs, where he was named a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star prior to being promoted to Advanced-A Daytona. Leverton finished the season at Double-A West Tennessee.

As a rookie in 2008, Leverton went 1-3 with a 4.61 ERA in 15 games (10 starts) for the rookie-level Boise Hawks. In 2009, he started 25 games for the Daytona Cubs and went 9-11 with a 4.35 ERA.

Leverton was selected by the Cubs in the eighth round of the 2008 draft following his junior year at Texas Tech. Leverton was a position player during his first two seasons with the Red Raiders, earning Honorable Mention All-Big 12 accolades as a first baseman as a sophomore prior to shifting to the mound as a junior.

In his three-year career, the Rockwall, Texas native is 20-15 with a 3.96 ERA over 90 games (35 starts).