Léo Jiminian

Léo Jiminian

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 174 lb.

• School East Tennessee State University, Clarendon College

• Born February 21, 1999 in Saint-Lô, Normandie France

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Léo Jiminian has played in French Division I and for the French national team. His father Carlos Jiminian also played for the French national team.

He played for France in the 2016 European Junior Championship, hitting .412/.583/.529 with five walks, four runs and four RBI in four games. He was 4th in the event in OBP (between Fabian Kovacs and Oliver van der Wijst). He made his French Division I debut that year, hitting .273/.305/.400 with 10 steals in 13 tries for the Toulouse Stade Toulousain Baseball club. He moved to the Sénart Templiers for 2017. In the 2017 CEB Cup, he was 4 for 11. He fell to .233/.333/.356 with 14 runs in 22 games in the 2017 Division I, fielding .882. He barely played in 2018, going 3 for 12 for the Templiers.

Jiminian hit .235/.278/.353 in the 2019 European Championship U23. In the Division I that year, he was at .254/.400/.349 with 18 runs in 22 games, going 13-for-16 in steal attempts. He was sharper on defense, with no errors in 33 chances. He tied for third in the loop in steals. He was 2 for 15 with two walks, a run and two RBI for the Hays Larks in the 2020 National Baseball Congress World Series. In 2020-2021, he produced at a .402/.453/.640 rate for Clarendon College with 69 runs and 49 RBI in 52 games, stealing 17 bases in 20 tries and having 30 extra-base hits (16 2B, 7 3B, 7 HR). He was named All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference in the outfield. As a result, he saw little action back in France, going 3 for 7 for the Savigny Lions. The French Baseball and Softball Federation says he signed with East Tennessee State University, the first French player to sign with a NCAA Division I team.

The Normandie native was France's starting center fielder and sometimes leadoff hitter in the 2021 European Championship. He was not the only second-generation national team player to debut with that squad; so did pitchers Tanguy Meurant and Gédéon Coste. He struck out his first at-bat, against Great Britain's Alex Webb, and was 0-for-10 in the first round. Things picked up after he began the second round 0-for-2 when he singled off Germany's Maurice Wilhelm. He would go 3-for-10 after that to finish at .174/.321/.174 with four walks, three runs and three RBI in six games, stealing four bases in five tries. He had 13 putouts, 2 assists and no errors. Against Greece, his two-run single off Dimitri Kourtis tied it in the bottom of the 10th but France went on to fall. In the 15th/16th place game against Slovakia, France faced having to drop to the B-Level Euros for the first time in decades. He scored in the first, drawing a leadoff walk from Michal Puškár and scoring on a wild pitch later in the inning. He led off the 11th with a bunt hit off Martin Lukačka as France took the lead for good. In the bottom of the inning, with two on and one out, he caught a fly from Michal Ešmír and then threw out Michal Noga at home to end the game and save France's spot in the European Championship. He was third in the event in steals, behind Ray-Patrick Didder and former major leaguer Roger Bernadina.