Infielder Leo Jiménez brought the boom in Friday’s 6-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 24-year-old Jiménez, batting sixth and starting at shortstop, stepped to the plate for his first of two at-bats at Charlotte Sports Park in the top half of the second inning, facing off against Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot with runners on third and first base. After taking a low-and-inside cutter for ball one, the out-of-options infielder smoked a belt-high four-seamer back up the middle for a single, scoring Jesús Sánchez from third and moving Eloy Jiménez to second.

On the play, the exit velocity from Jiménez’s line-drive RBI single read a blistering 110.6 m.p.h. — harder than any ball he’s hit across 242 career major-league plate appearances.

With the Toronto Blue Jays, Jiménez’s hardest-hit ball came last season on July 9 via a 108.4-m.p.h. groundout against the then-Brewers starter Adrian Houser. However, while Friday’s mark technically represents a new career-high versus big-league pitching, the right-handed-hitting prospect registered an exit velocity one decimal point higher (110.7) in the minors on June 12, 2021, grounding into an inning-ending double-play.

Even so, this most recent exit velocity is the highest reading he’s ever recorded for a hit — minors, majors or spring training.

It’s certainly an intriguing development for Jiménez, who finished 1-for-2 against the Rays and is now 3-for-9 (.333) with a trio of singles and two RBIs in five Grapefruit League games this spring. He’s part of a small handful of Blue Jays players in camp competing for a roster spot, needing to become one of the 26 on their Opening Day roster or else being subject to waivers.

Jiménez opened last season on the injured list while battling mononucleosis (mono) and also endured a separate IL stint in the second half, limiting him to just 44 total games between the Florida Complex League, Single-A, Triple-A and majors. He struggled mightily at the plate during his brief stint in Toronto, going 2-for-29 (.069) with eight strikeouts and only two walks over an 18-game span.

Now that he’s healthy, this spring is an opportunity to showcase himself to the Blue Jays’ brass — and to the 29 other teams if he ends up being designated for assignment or traded — before heading to the World Baseball Classic next week, and the glove-first middle infielder is off to a pretty decent start.