David Grimes (Germany)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 198 lb.

• Born September 18, 1999 in München, Bavaria Germany

Biographical Information

David Grimes has played in the Bundesliga and for the German national team.

He debuted in the Bundesliga-1 in 2016 with the Buchbinder Legionäre, going 0 for 7 with a walk and a run and handling 16 error-free chances at 1B, backing up Christoph Zirzlmeier. In the 2016 European Junior Championship, he hit .227/.393/.364 with 5 walks, 3 runs, 3 doubles and 4 RBI in 6 games for Germany, fielding 1.000 in 58 chances. He led the event in fielding; Leonardo Seminati and Koen Halderman were next at 1.000 in 44 chances. He also tied for 3rd in doubles (one behind Tijmen Takke and Marek Chlup) and led in putouts (13 ahead of Halderman). He also completed in the International Power Showcase, the only German featured in the amateur showcase.

The big infielder was 1 for 5 with a double and a walk in the 2017 European Champions Cup. In the Bundesliga that year, he hit .314/.397/.373; with former minor leaguer Maik Ehmcke at 1B, he was used mostly at DH. The next season, he split 1B with Michael Stephan but slumped to .211/.349/.296, fielding .992.

In '19, he hit .424/.484/.576. In the Bundesliga-1, only Edvardas Matusevičius had a better average among those with 50+ PA. The 1B/DH produced at a .451/.567/.765 clip in the COVID-19-shortened 2020; he had 14 runs, 14 walks and 21 RBI in 14 games. In the Bundesliga-1 South, tied Simon Gühring for 2nd in hits (behind Matt Vance), tied Vance for 3rd in doubles (6), tied for 1st in triples (2), was 4th with 39 total bases (between Max Boldt and Pascal Amon), tied Gühring for 4th in extra-base hits (10), was 3rd in RBI (behind Boldt and Vance), tied for 4th in steals (6), was 3rd in walks (behind Sascha Lutz and William Germaine), was 5th in average for those with 50+ PA (between Gühring and Devon Ramirez), was 5th in OBP (between Peter Johannessen and Ramirez), was 4th in slugging (between Boldt and Gary Owens) and was 4th in OPS (between Boldt and Johannessen).

At age 21, the München native was at .418/.508/.867 with 10 homers, 37 runs, 38 RBI and 19 walks in 25 games. He was among the leaders in runs (tied Owens for 5th), hits (41, 7th), doubles (8, tied for 5th), triples (3, tied William Thorp for #1), homers (tied Owens and Marvin Kulinna for 5th), total bases (85, 4th, between Germaine and Juan Martin), extra-base hits (4th), RBI (tied Daniel Patrice for 5th), average (6th among those with 100+ PA, between Martin and Ludwig Glaser), OBP (6th, between Philip Schulz and Lutz, slugging (4th, between Boldt and Owens) and OPS (4th, between Boldt and Owens).

In the 2021 U-23 European Championship, he hit .188/.316/.313 as a LF/1B for Germany. Grimes made Germany's squad for the 2021 European Championship, backing up Elias von Garßen at 1B. He only played one game, starting at 1B in the opener against Croatia. He was 0 for 2 against Jose Diaz then Lukas Jahn pinch-hit for him. In the 2021 U-23 Baseball World Cup, he was at .174/.367/.261 as a 1B/DH.