Baseball America Honors Padres Prospect With Prestigious Award

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 25, 2024

Brad Mills-Imagn Images

Despite an injury that forced a San Diego prospect's season to come to an early end, he still earned great reviews in 2024 — including a prestigious award.

Leodalis de Vries was named the Padres Minor League Player Of The Year by Baseball America on Tuesday after a 40-game run saw him hit .275/.400/.563 until exiting a game on Aug. 17 with discomfort in his right (throwing) shoulder after a diving play in the field.

De Vries stayed in Lake Elsinore to continue rehab rather than returning to the Padres' spring training facility in Peoria, Ariz. While there, he took on a mascot role for the team's run to the California League finals.

“I think it was eye-opening for him to buckle down on activation, recovery, and the small things,” Padres farm director Ryley Westman said. “Rather than just going out and playing a game that night, he was now faced with new responsibilities . . .

“He could lock in on his throwing program. He could do one-handed swings and stuff like that. A lot of it was pitch recognition.

“It was almost a blessing in disguise.”

The 17-year-old put in the extra work ahead of his debut season in professional baseball.

During his early days in pro ball, De Vries packed on four pounds of lean muscle and boosted his deadlift by 50 pounds. The most crucial part of his progress, though, was maintaining his sprint speeds — clocking in at 1.7 seconds for the 10-yard dash and 3.75 seconds for the 30-yard sprint.

All that hard work paid off on the field, as the switch-hitting shortstop went 13-for-15 in stolen base attempts and hit 11 home runs, finishing with a .238/.361/.442 slash line as the youngest player in the California League.

Signed for $4.2 million in January, De Vries debuted with the Storm on April 23 but hit a rough patch, going 0-for-14 before a shoulder injury forced him out of the lineup. He returned on May 14 but didn't hit his first home run until June 25.

“This kid is capable of a lot,” Westman said. “It’s an arm that’s got carry across the diamond. There’s very good bat-to-ball, but he’ll show some power.

“You get him on the bases and he’ll disturb the game, and from a defensive standpoint, he’s shrinking the field. When you listen to our scouting group break this guy down, it’s a lot of voices with a lot of positive things to say.”

Since the injury, he’s been working on strengthening his right shoulder, with the possibility of being selected to play in the Arizona Fall League next month.