The 12 Days of Prospects

 Jimenez is an instinctive, fluid defender who doesn''t have the explosive athleticism some teams prefer at shortstop, but he''s a steady, reliable defender with soft hands, loose actions, good body control and a knack for slowing the game down, with slightly below-average speed and an average arm.

-Baseball America

When he signed with the Blue Jays as an IFA in 2017, Blue Jays Assistant GM and Director of International Operations said that the 16 year old Panamanian was as good a bet to one day be a big league SS as any prospect he had ever seen:

 A player Tinnish is very high on is Panamanian SS Leonardo Jimenez, who signed for $825K.  “A really, really great kid,” enthused Tinnish.  “(He’s) bilingual, great make up, ultra young in the class – a late May birthday – he really has lead-off or #2 hole potential….if you asked me right now who has a chance to play SS in your system, Leo would be at the top of that list.  The way the body moves, the way the arm works, the instincts, he’s a really good, future upside defender.”  Jimenez, who led off for the Panamanian national team, has a good approach at the plate.    He grinds out ABs, and hits a lot of line drives, and even shows glimpses of future power.  He hit a HR his last game at Instructs, and Tinnish admits of all the players the Blue Jays signed outside of (Eric) Pardinho, Jimenez is the one he’s most excited about.

The bat has been slow to develop, and injuries that have limited him to 129 games over the past two seasons have definitely not helped, but Jimenez, who was placed on the 40 man ahead of the Rule 5 draft last season, may be a 2023 breakout candidate.

Jimenez tried to be more aggressive in his approach last season. After walking more than he struck out in 2021, and perhaps settling for contact more than the barrel, Jimenez appeared to look more for pitches he could drive this season, which resulted in a K rate just about 20%, but Jimenez had one of the better chase rates in the organization, and saw a career high in pitches/AB. On top of that, his average exit velos continue to go up, and while his numbers this season (.230/.340/.385) were underwhelming, he put everything together in July (.967 OPS), and gave us a glimpse of what could be. Perhaps he’s not the top-of-the-order sparkplug Tinnish predicted he might be, but he could be a tough out at the bottom of the order guy.

Jimenez is staying in Clearwater this off season, rather than going home to Panama. The chance to work with the Blue Jays coaching and sport science staff can only benefit him. There is absolutely no doubt about the glove; it’s the bat that will determine his path forward. The Blue Jays were willing to let this be a development year for Jimenez, but 2023 will have to be a breakthrough for him if he wants to remain on the 40.