René Leveret

Rene Alexander Leveret

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 263 lb.

• Born November 19, 1985 in South Reward, Sint Maarten France

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Rene Leveret was a Dutch minor leaguer in the Minnesota Twins system who has played for the French national team.

Leveret signed with the Twins at age 17. He debuted with the DSL Twins in 2004, hitting .258/.331/.335. In 2005, he batted .272/.358/.354. With the DSL Twins for a third season in 2006, he blossomed, hitting .331/.436/.500 with 16 times hit by pitch and 55 RBI in 72 games. He led the Dominican Summer League with 22 doubles, was second with 29 extra-base hits, second in RBI, second in hits (84), third in average and slugging and 4th in OBP.

Moving stateside for the 2007 season, Rene hit .307/.399/.463 with 65 RBI in 66 games for the Elizabethton Twins. The hefty first baseman led the league in RBI, tied for third with 34 walks, tied for 4th with 75 hits and tied for sixth with 8 home runs. He also led league first basemen in putouts (483), double plays (42) and errors (7, tied for the lead). He made the Appalachian League All-Star team at 1B.

In 2008, Leveret began with Elizabethton (.306/.405/.556 in 9 games) before moving up to the Beloit Snappers (.286/.351/.385 in 49 games). He batted .286/.363/.399 for the 2009 Fort Myers Miracle while splitting time at first with Chris Parmelee. In 2010, he signed with the independent Capitales de Québec and batted .309/.340/.440.

For 2011, Leveret signed with Italy's Godo Knights. He hit third and played first base on Opening Day but went 0 for 4 as the team was shut out by Telemarket Rimini. He was only 2 for 17 with a walk, double and six whiffs before asking for his release. Returning to the Capitales, he hit .292/.410/.447 with 58 runs, 55 RBI and 51 walks in 83 games. He was in the top 5 in the Canadian-American Association in OBP and tied teammate Goefrey Tomlinson for 4th in walks. In 2012, he put up a .361/.413/.494 batting line for Quebec. He led the league in average and was second to teammate Sébastien Boucher in OBP. For his work, he was named the Can-Am All-Star DH.

In the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, Leveret played 1B for Team France. He was their top batter, going 3 for 8 with a walk and a double. For the 2013 Capitales, he batted .292/.376/.432 with 11 homers (tied for 7th in the CAA) and 71 RBI (tied with Jerod Edmondson for the league lead). He repeated as an All-Star. His numbers dropped further in 2014 - .261/.321/.365.

He was a top performer for France in the 2014 European Championship, hitting .407/.433/.815 with 3 homers and 9 RBI in 8 games. He went deep off Luke Sommer to end a no-hit bed in the 5th and had both a solo homer and three-run shot off Diegomar Markwell of the champion Dutch national team. He was 9th in the Euros in slugging (between Yurendell de Caster and Hainley Statia) and tied Alex Liddi and Jesus Golindano for 7th in total bases. He tied for 7th in home runs and tied for 10th in RBI.

Leveret left the Capitales to join the Amarillo Thunderheads for 2015. He bounced back, batting .290/.335/.436 with 12 HR and 74 RBI in 99 games. He tied Noah Perio for 5th in the American Association in RBI. He was 2 for 9 with four walks, two runs and a RBI in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in March 2016, with a homer off Panama's Angel Cuan in the 5th inning of the semifinals to tie the game at 4; France's upset bill faltered after that as they fell, 7-4. He was second on the team in slugging and OPS (both behind Frédéric Hanvi). For the Panama pool, he tied Carlos Ruiz and Luis Castillo for the walk lead.

Sources

• 2008 Twins Media Guide
• MILB.com
• Mister Baseball
• Baseball France
• 2014 European Championship
• World Baseball Classic