Leo Bäckström

Leonard Bäckström

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 195 lb.

• School San Joaquin Delta College
• High School Leksand Gymnasium

• Born July 19, 1999

Biographical Information

Leonard Bäckström has played in the Elitserien and for the Swedish national team.

He was the main catcher for the Sundbyberg Heat in 2015, the year he turned 16; he hit .179/.294/.208. In the 2015 European Junior Championship, he hit .350/.458/.550 with 5 runs in 6 games, leading Sweden in slugging, and throwing out 5 of 9 would-be base-stealers. He led the event in runners gunned down. In '16, he batted .294/.489/.323 for Sundbyberg.

Bäckström made Sweden's squad for the 2016 European Championship as their 2nd-youngest player; Max Hill was born a couple months after him. He singled off former Twins farmhand Andrei Lobanov in his first at-bat, scoring three runs that day against Russia. He split catching with Björn Johannesen, handling 31 chances error-free and allowing 6 steals in 8 tries while batting .188/.235/.313. His four runs tied Johan Klarberg for second on the Swedish entry.

In 2017, he blossomed and hit .354/.485/.481 for Sundbyberg. He was 9th in the Elitserien in average (between Per Lindgren and Nicklas Melin), 6th in RBI (19), 9th in slugging and 5th in OBP. He put up even better numbers in '18 but did not play enough to qualify (.350/.458/.575) for the leaders. He and Hill came to the US for college in 2018-2019.