Was born in Norwich, CT...He and his wife, Lauren, were married in 2016...Graduated from Norwich Free Academy (Conn.) where he played high school baseball and was an All-State selection his junior and senior seasons...Selected by Seattle in the 16th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft; signed by Mariners scout Garrett Ball...Signed by San Francisco as a minor league free agent on Dec. 9, 2020...Played college baseball at Clemson University from 2010-12...Leone struggled during his junior year at Clemson and it was then he taught himself how to throw a cut fastball by watching YouTube videos of Mariano Rivera...Grew up a Boston Red Sox fan and his favorite player was Pedro Martinez.
2021
Was one of six SF relievers with at least 50 appearances and a sub-3.00 ERA...the only other team in MLB history to have as many relievers in the same season was the 2014 Mariners where Leone was also part of that group of six...His 1.51 ERA from June 1 through the end of the season was the third lowest in the NL (min. 40g) behind NYM’s Aaron Loup (0.41) and teammate Jose Alvarez (1.50)...Opposing hitters were 7-for-50 (.140) off him with RISP...with RISP and two outs Leone was even tougher on opposing hitters (2x21, .095 BAA)...Went 3-1 with a minuscule 0.39 ERA (3er, 23.1ip) in 24 road games...his 0.39 road ERA was lowest in the Majors (min. 24 road app)...Batters went 5-for-55 (.091) off his slider...the .091 BAA against his slider was sixth-lowest in the Majors (min. 50 PA)...Did not allow a homer in his final 34.2 innings...Began the year at the Alternate Site and made seven appearances for Sacramento before being recalled.
POSTSEASON: Made his first career postseason appearance Oct. 9 for Game 2 of the NLDS...In two postseason outings, allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout in 1.2 innings...he also allowed his two inherited runners to score.
2020
Appeared in 12 games with the Cleveland Indians and posted an 8.38 ERA...Opponents hit .333 (14-for-42) with six extra-base hits off him...Struck out 16 batters in 9.2 innings of work (14.90 SO/9)...Was reassigned to finish the season at the Indians Alternate Training Site on Sept. 13.
2019
Opened the year with St. Louis and spent four stints with the Cardinals...On the year posted five outings of at least 2.0 innings...Over his last 12 outings following his final Aug. 22 recall he posted an ERA of 1.54 (2ER/11.2IP)...12 of his 25 earned runs allowed on the year came in two outings (Apr. 26; May 5) over a ten day stretch....Allowed 19 ER over 18.1 innings in 18 appearances in April and May...Earned second career save on June 30 at San Diego.
2018
Missed 98 games while on the disabled list due to right upper arm nerve irritation (5/6-8/25)...Appeared in only 30 games, his lowest total since 25 in 2016 with Arizona...Appeared in 14 of the team's 32 games after returning from the disabled list on August 26...Tied Jack Flaherty for the Cardinals team lead with two pick-offs...Had one career pick-off entering 2018 season (SEA, 2014)...Finished the season with four scoreless appearances allowing just one hit (2.1 IP)...Recorded one out or less in eight appearances and had two appearances without recording any outs...Pitched on consecutive days 6 times and once 3 straight days (4/26-4/28)...Had four appearances of four outs or more with three coming in the month of April...Struck out two batters in each of his first four appearances of the season...Left game vs. CHI (5/4) with right biceps cramping while warming up on the mound before ever throwing a pitch in the game...Made 10 rehab appearances with Memphis (AAA) posting a 1-1 record with a 7.20 ERA covering 10.0 innings (7 K)...Earned five Holds on the season with three in his first eight appearances...Had 4.2 scoreless IP streak snapped vs. NYM (4/26)….Tied his season-high with 1.1 IP on 4/24 vs. NYM...Suffered his first loss as a Cardinal at MIL (4/3), allowing game-ending back/back home runs (Yelich/Braun); the 3rd time career he allowed two home runs in a game.
2017
Posted Major League career highs with 65 appearances, 70.1 innings pitched and 81 strikeouts ... Was one of four Blue Jays pitchers to appear in 65 or more games (Tepera 73, Loup 70, Osuna 66) ... Ranked 12th in ERA (2.56) 9th in innings pitched (70.1) among American League relievers ... Ranked T3rd among American League relievers in Inherited Runners with a career-high 54 and T13th in Inherited Runners Scored percentage (22.2%) ... Held opposing batters to a .202 BA, 2nd-lowest among Blue Jays relievers behind Roberto Osuna (.197) ... His 81 strikeouts in relief ranked T17th among American League relief pitchers. Averaged 10.36 strikeouts/9 IP, 2nd on the club behind Roberto Osuna (11.67) ... Stranded 42 of 54 (78%) inherited runners, ranking 4th in the A.L. (min. 50 inherited runners) ... Pitched on consecutive days 13 times during the season ... Struck out a season-high four batters three times (6/13 vs. TB, 6/16 vs. CWS & 7/20 at BOS) ... Tossed a career-high 3.0 IP vs. CWS (6/16) pitching the 2nd through 4th innings ... Posted a solid reverse split holding left-handed batters to a .183 BA (15-82) and right-handers at .211 (36-171) ... Recorded his first Major League save vs. BAL (9/11) tossing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts ... Made four relief appearances with Buffalo (AAA).
2016
Split time between the Diamondbacks and the Triple-A Reno Aces...With Arizona he posted a 0-1 record, 6.33 ERA, and 23 strikeouts in 27 total innings...With Reno, Leone went 5-2 in 33 relief appearances, and recorded a 3.34 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 35 innings...In November, he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks...On November 18, was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.
2015
Split the season between the Mariners and D-backs organizations following a six-player trade on June 3 that saw OF Mark Trumbo dealt to Seattle...Made 13 appearances between Seattle (10 games) and Arizona (3), going 0-5 with an 8.40 ERA (14 ER in 15.0 IP)...Placed on Double-A Mobile's disabled list on Aug. 14 with right shoulder tendinitis and missed the rest of the season.
2014
Went 8-2, 2.17 ERA(16 ER, 66.1 IP) with 70 strikeouts inrookie campaign... Recorded second-most wins by a rookie relief pitcher in clubhistory behind Bill Risley (9 in 1994)and Ed Vande Berg (9 in 1982)... Tied for second among American League relief pitchers (T4 in MLB) with 8 wins... Among AL rookie relievers, ranked first in wins(8), second in strikeouts (70), third in ERA (2.17), third in Opponent Batting Average (.217), 4th in innings (66.1), tied for fourth in appearances (57) and tied for seventh in holds (7)... Went 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA (3 ER, 33.1 IP) in 25 G at Safeco Field... 57 appearances ranked 7th-most in rookie club history... Averaged 9.50 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched (70 SO, 66.1 IP), 8th-best by a rookie relief pitcher in club history... Made MLB debut on April 6 at OAK with a scoreless IP…allowed a double to first batter faced but pitched out of jam without allowing a run... Selected from Triple-A Tacoma on April 4; reported to Tacoma but did not appear in a game.
2013
Began season with Clinton, appearing in 3 games before being promoted to High Desert on April 15…after allowing 9 runs over first 13.0 innings (7 G) with the Mavericks, allowed only 2 runs over final 27.0 innings (0.67 ERA)…promoted to Jackson on July 13…tossed a season-high 17.2 scoreless innings (15) between High Desert and Jackson, June 16-Aug. 3…finished 2nd amongst all Mariners farmhands with 16 saves combined…did not allow a run, going 16-for-17 in save opportunities combined (0.00 ERA/0 ER, 19.1 IP); limited opponents to a .095 average (6x63) with 3 walks and 28 strikeouts in save situations…led the Arizona Fall League in 2013 with 6 saves (0-1, 3.00 ERA, 11 G, 15 K, 1 BB) for the Peoria Javelinas.
2012
Began pro career with Everett…finished tied for the team lead in saves and appearances…held opponents scoreless in 15 of 19 appearances, including tossing 12.2 scoreless innings over 8 games, July 8-Aug. 7…limited opponents to a .177 (20x113) average, including a .118 (8x68) clip vs. righties…his .177 opponent batting average ranked as the 4th-lowest amongst Northwest League relievers…recorded first career win June 21 vs. Spokane (2.1,0,0,0,0,1)…participated in Mariners Instructional League.