Steven Leytón

Brandon Steven Leytón Olivas

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.

• Born December 17, 1998 in León, León Nicaragua

BR register page

Biographical Information

Brandon Leytón has played in the minors and for the Nicaraguan national team. His father Reymundo Leytón was on the Nicaraguan national team in the 1990s and 2000s.

Brandon Leytón hit .278 for Nicaragua in the 2016 U-18 Pan American Championship. That year, he was signed by Arizona Diamondbacks scout Junior Noboa. He split his first pro summer as a middle infielder for the DSL Diamondbacks 1 and DSL Diamondbacks 2, hitting a combined .218/.321/.249 and going 8-for-10 in steal attempts. The next year, he hit .280/.320/.435 for the Missoula Osprey and .259/.355/.333 in 7 games for the DSL Diamondbacks 1.

He continued to play both second and short in 2018, batting .274/.309/.419 for Missoula with 34 RBI in 56 games. In 2019, he played for the Hillsboro Hops (.264/.355/.409 in 41 G) and Kane County Cougars (.159/.217/.187 in 33 G). The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cincinnati Reds took him in the minor league portion of the 2020 Rule V Draft. He won Liga Nicaragüense de Béisbol Profesional titles in 2019-2020 with his hometown León team.

He played for Nicaragua in the 2020 Americas Olympic Qualifier, serving as their starting shortstop and leadoff man. In the opener, he grounded out against Matthew Liberatore of Team USA (which won the event) but doubled the next time up (though he was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple). He scored twice in their 7-6 win over Puerto Rico. In three games, he hit .222/.385/.333 with two walks, two runs and a RBI, with one error in ten chances.

Leytón hit .248/.296/.393 with 22 doubles in 80 games for the '21 Daytona Tortugas, fielding .973 at second base.