Image credit: © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Leo De Vries, SS/3B, Sacramento Athletics (Double-A Midland)
The incumbent no. 2 prospect behind Jesus Máde, De Vries can make his own case for top spot in baseball, but like his fellow switch-hitting 19-year-old Double-A shortstop, it gets a bit fuzzier under the microscope. De Vries hasn’t built on or even really consolidated his power breakout from the end of last season, posting a .430 slugging percentage in the Texas League. Like Máde, he’s done more damage from the right side this year. He’s more direct to the ball as a righty, with plenty of bat speed and pull side thump on offer. De Vries’s two swings end up mirrored once he gets moving forward, but from the left side, he starts slightly more open and with his hands resting almost on his back shoulder. Once he loads his hands up and taps his toe, the swings look the same, but there are a few extra and intricate moving parts as a lefty. De Vries gets a little extra whip as a southpaw, but the extra hand movement means he’s a much better low ball hitter, and honestly he can be a smidge late on velocity up from both sides. As the weather has warmed up in Texas, he’s shown more of the power that made him a top-five prospect in baseball coming into the season, but he’ll need more than a hot month to solidify an argument for no. 1. Conversely, it’s hard to argue De Vries is a worse prospect now given 12 weeks of above-average (112 wRC+, 115 DRC+) performance in Double-A while still a teenager. But it can be equally hard to argue this is the performance—both visually and statistically—of the best prospect in baseball.
The case for one would also be easier to make if De Vries were a sure shot to stick at short, but he’s already playing a fair bit of third base, and while his hands and range are fine enough for any infield spot, he does tend to lack confidence in his throws at times. I don’t think raw arm strength is the issue: If he has to get it out quickly on the move or knows it’s gonna be a bang-bang play, there’s enough fizz for the left side. When he has time to let his internal clock run down, or if he’s planted on the double play pivot, there’s less carry. Some of this might get ironed out as he adjusts to faster game speeds or just gets more reps (it’s easy to forget he’s made just 200 career starts at the six, given he’s already in Double-A). But I’ve long thought he would end up at second base down the line. And frankly it’s hard to be the best prospect in baseball manning the keystone, even if we still very much believe in the long term power/hit production being plus.
