Leodalis De Vries Impresses Padres With Maturity Heading Into Second Pro Season
It will be hard for Leodalis De Vries to top his first calendar year as a professional, but the Padres will certainly give him the opportunity.
The 18-year-old switch-hitting shortstop headlines the organization’s list of non-roster invitees to big league spring training.
De Vries attending big league camp—as Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Ethan Salas did as teenagers coming off breakout minor league seasons—is about getting him comfortable in the environment and furthering his baseball education.
“When you look at everything he went through from signing on Jan. 15, 2024,” Padres assistant farm director Mike Daly said, “there were a number of positives from Leo and definitely a lot of learning for him. Certainly the organization is really proud of how he handled everything and how he performed.
“He grew a ton.”
Had a lot thrown at him, too.
De Vries opened 2024 at Low-A Lake Elsinore as the youngest player in the California League. He scuffled out of the gate before a power surge took root and he closed the season on a .275/.400/.563 tear that included 11 home runs in his last 40 games.
De Vries suffered a left shoulder injury early in the season and a right rotator cuff strain later that ended his season in mid August. In October, he participated in the Arizona Fall League, where he was the youngest to go deep since Bryce Harper in 2010.
While there weren’t specific swing changes that led to De Vries’ uptick, the Padres attribute the gains in his walk rate (12% to 16% from the first half to second) and strikeout rate (28% to 18%) to his own baseball IQ and his confidence playing against older competition.
That practice started well before the Padres signed him for $4.2 million out of the Dominican Republic last winter, and it figures to continue as De Vries heads to High-A Fort Wayne for his second full year of pro ball.
“Really talented and smart players,” Daly said, “as they get experience and learn, they make adjustments.”
FATHER FIGURES
— Catcher Brandon Valenzuela tore his left meniscus 28 games into his stay with Hermosillo in the Mexican Pacific League. He was hitting .259/.415/.383 with one homer. The expectation is that Valenzuela, 24, will be healthy enough to break camp with Triple-A El Paso at the end of spring training.
— A shoulder injury kept catcher Lamar King Jr. from playing behind the plate last year, but he was back to catching at fall instructional league and should see time at catcher and first base this year at Low-A Lake Elsinore. King was a fourth-round pick in 2024.
