Padres top prospect heating up in a big way after aggressive assignment

When the San Diego Padres were able to successfully land Leo De Vries on the international free agent market, it was genuine cause for celebration. De Vries was considered by many experts to be the best international prospect in the class and gave the Padres another IFA gem to pair with catcher Ethan Salas for the future.

Normally, teenagers (even those as talented as De Vries) spend significant time in the Dominican Summer League or at least rookie ball to start. These are young guys who often need time to acclimate to a professional environment as well as living in the United States for the first time. Again, all of this is normal.

However, the Padres are one of the more aggressive teams with international signings when it comes to minor league placement, and they landed on starting De Vries immediately at Low-A, bypassing rookie ball entirely. Instead of struggling like the vast majority of players would, De Vries is excelling.

Padres top prospect Leo De Vries is just built different

Given the level of talent that De Vries has at his disposal, it wasn't that crazy to see him show flashes of brilliance like he did in the month of July. He is obviously still a young guy, but talent is going to win out at times, especially in the lower levels of the minors.

However, what is remarkable about De Vries is that he has just been objectively excellent all season long. Through 70 games, again all at Low-A at the tender age of 17, De Vries has posted an .812 OPS with 11 homers and 13 stolen bases. In the month of August alone so far, he is slashing .263/.391/.447 after posting an insane month of July during which he hit eight homers.

De Vries is almost certainly going to encounter speed bumps during his development. However, everything right now is pointing to the idea that challenging De Vries with full season ball right out of the gate was a gamble worth taking.

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