Leo Ferrini

José Leonardo Ferrini Colmenarez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.

• Born April 17, 1989 in Barquisimeto, Lara Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Leo Ferrini has played in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Italy, San Marino and Taiwan and for the Venezuelan national team.

He was signed by Toronto Blue Jays scout Robinson Garces in January 2007. He hit .240/.302/.264 as a middle infielder for the 2007 DSL Blue Jays 2. In 2008, he batted .283/.388/.326 with 45 runs in 63 games for the DSL Blue Jays 1, stealing 20 bases in 26 tries and drawing 38 walks. He fielded .905 at short, his main spot that year. He produced at a .248/.383/.333 clip with 40 walks in 56 games for the 2009 DSL Blue Jays and fielded .957 at 2B. Remaining with the team for a 4th straight DSL season, he hit .274/.425/.295 in 36 games, stealing 13 bases while only being caught twice.

His time in the minors over, he played in the Liga Paralela. Obtaining duel citizenship with Italy, he signed with Reggio Emilia. He hit .238/.289/.238 for them in 2013, then played in the Italian minors in '14. In 2015, he moved to Nettuno, batting .316/.445/.411 with 22 walks and 21 runs in 25 games, going 13-for-16 in steal attempts and fielding .968. He was among the 2015 Italian Baseball League leaders in average (8th, between Riccardo Bertagnon and Leonardo Colagrossi), OBP (7th, between Willie Vásquez and Alex Sambucci), runs (tied Paolino Ambrosino for 6th), RBI (tied Carlos Duran for 9th, 17), triples (2, tied for 4th), walks (tied Claudio Liverziani for 4th), steals (1st, one ahead of Ambrosino) and assists (78, 10th).

Playing for Padova BSC in the 2016 IBL, he hit .323/.405/.369, fielding .917. He would have been in the top ten in average had he qualified. He switched clubs again, moving to T&A San Marino. In the 2017 European Champions Cup, he was 4 for 12 with two walks and a run. During the 2017 Serie A1 (the IBL having returned to its older name), he hit .325/.424/.382 with 20 walks and 22 runs in 32 contests. He fielded .946. He was 10th in average, walks and OBP, tied Federico Celli and Charlie Mirabal for 8th in hits (40), tied Mirabal for 6th in steals and was 9th in assists (79). San Marino made it to the 2017 Italian Series, he was 1 for 12 with a walk and two runs as San Marino fell to Rimini. He played in the Asia Winter Baseball League based in Taiwan.

Ferrini was back with San Marino in 2018, remaining with the same club for the first time in years. His batting line was .309/.350/.443 in the 2018 Serie A1. Continuing his rotation of teams in the Italian leagues, he moved to Unipolsai Bologna in 2019. In the 2019 European Champions Cup, he had a five-RBI game against the Arrows Ostrava. Entering the title game, he was at .313/.333/.313 but with nine RBI in four games. He fielded .909. At that point, he led in RBI (one ahead of Aldo Koutsoyanopulos) and tied Louis Brainville and Alex Rubanowitz for the most errors (3). In the championship contest, he was 2 for 5 with a triple and two runs in a romp over the L&D Amsterdam Pirates to take the continental title. He batted .379/.451/.483 with 21 RBI in 23 games in the 2019 Serie A1. He finished third in average (behind Renzo Martini and Sebastiano Poma), seventh in OBP (between Jose Flores and Poma), tied for fourth in hits and tied Ambrosino for 8th in steals (5). Bologna advanced to the 2019 Italian Series. His Game 2 single off Valerio Simone scored Eladio Russo with the winner in the bottom of the ninth. Otherwise, he was 1 for 12 with a walk on the Series, with one error in five chances. Bologna beat his old San Marino club for the title.

His busy year continued with his Venezuelan Winter League debut at age 30. He was the main second baseman for the Leones del Caracas while backing up Wilfredo Tovar at SS. He hit .302/.362/.382 in the regular season and .267/.421/.400 in the postseason. He did not play in Italy in 2020, then hit .273/.286/.273 for Caracas in 2020-2021, backing up Tovar and José Rondón. He returned to San Marino by 2021, hitting .364/.471/.535. San Marino beat Bologna in the 2021 Italian Series; he had now been on the winning side with each of these teams in a three-year period against the other. He hit .250/.400/.500 with five runs in the Series; only Osman Marval scored more.

Making Italy's team for the 2021 European Championship, he served as their starter at third base. He singled off Greece's Nick Pantos in his first at-bat for the Azzurri and came around to score, part of a three-hit day. He later had three-run games against Belgium and Austria (including a homer off Paul Astl). For the Bronze Medal Game, though, the team started Filippo Agretti. Ferrini did enter as a pinch-hitter for Mattia Mercuri and drew a walk from Jorge Balboa to set up the game's first run in the 7th; he stayed in at 2B. Italy would win Bronze. He hit .364/.462/.591 for the Euros with nine runs in six games, drawing four walks and stealing three bases in three tries while fielding .909. He tied for fourth in steals and was sixth in runs (leading Italy).