Mikael Lindqvist

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born January 30, 1996

Biographical Information

Mikael Lindqvist has played in the Elitserien and for the Swedish national team.

He debuted with Gefle in 2012, going 2-for-14. He was 0 for 2 for Sweden in the 2012 U18 European Junior Championship Qualifiers and allowed two unearned runs in 2 1/3 IP. In '13, he hit .283 between the Leksand Lumberjacks and Akademin.

In 2014, he was 2-0 with a 4.58 ERA, while batting .266. He was with Sweden's squad for the 2014 European Championship. He debuted in a 12-3 loss to Italy, replacing Philip Gajzler in left and struck out against Nicholas Morreale his first time up. He then took over on the mound in the 9th, switching spots with Emil Sahlin. He allowed a triple to Mattia Reginato and singles to Erick Epifano and Stefano De Simoni. He got his first out when Juan Carlos Infante hit into a force, then Gabriele Ermini hit into a run-scoring force. He walked Joe Mazzuca but retired Alex Sambucci to end the inning. He was the last baserunner when he drew a one-out walk from Carlos Teran in the bottom of the frame. His only other appearance was against Germany, replacing Pär Axelsson in right field late in the game.

Mikael batted .275/.304/.275 for Akademin in 2015 and allowed seven runs (two earned) in six innings. In the 2015 B-Level European Championship, he was on Sweden's victorious team but did not play. He became a regular in 2016 with the Rättvik Butchers, batting .263/.303/.340 but driving in 26 to tie Björn Johannessen for 4th in the league in RBI. He had a 2-2, 8.37 record on the hill. He hit .295 for the Vienna Emporers in Collegiate Baseball League Europe.

In 2017, he produced at a .277/.376/.379 clip for the Butchers. He tied for third in the league with nine doubles. His .978 fielding percentage was second among league catchers. During '18, he slumped to .229/.301/.270 but he led league catchers in fielding (34 TC, 0 E, .009 ahead of Kestas Vilimas.

At age 23, he had a big season in 2019: .336/.426/.481, 9 2B, 25 RBI. He tied for 4th in doubles, tied Pontus Byström for 7th in RBI and edged Leo Bäckström for the lead in fielding at catcher (both were at .989, Lindqvist with five more chances and the same number of errors). He hit only .189/.268/.270 in the 2020 season, shortened due to COVID-19.