MLB's No. 4 prospect De Vries, just 19, continues raking with monster game
This browser does not support the video element.
Leo De Vries doesn't need any help filling up his stat sheet. The 19-year-old is one of the youngest players at the Double-A level and is MLB Pipeline's No. 4 prospect in baseball. Still, the native of the Dominican Republic got an assist on a home run that was part of a three-hit effort as De Vries provided the spark in Midland's 11-8 victory over Amarillo at Momentum Bank Ballpark on Tuesday afternoon.
Get tickets to a Minor League game near you »
The top-ranked A's prospect finished a triple shy of a cycle as he posted his seventh multihit performance of the season -- fourth with three hits -- and drove in three runs while scoring twice. De Vries' 27 total hits and 19 runs scored are fourth most among all players at the Double-A level. He is tied for the seventh-best batting average (.318) and ranks sixth in total bases (43) in the heavy-hitting Texas League through 22 games this season.
In the fourth inning on Tuesday, De Vries hammered a 1-2 offering from D-backs No. 7 prospect Daniel Eagen the other way into left and the ball may have cleared the fence over the 330-foot sign or may have hit the top of the wall and stayed in play. Instead, Sod Poodles left fielder Junior Franco attempted to make the running catch -- he even had the ball in his glove for a moment -- but it popped out and landed out of the field of play for De Vries' fourth home run of the year.
This browser does not support the video element.
De Vries drove in his second run of the contest in the following frame with a bloop hit that found the grass in center and rolled past the center fielder. The 6-foot, 183-pound switch-hitter easily scampered into second base for his fourth two-bagger of the season. In the sixth, De Vries stepped to the dish with a runner on third and two outs and sent a sinking line drive into center on the seventh pitch of his at-bat for his third RBI of the afternoon.
De Vries batted .426 while posting a 1.183 OPS with three homers, a triple, three doubles, 12 RBIs and four stolen bases over 47 Cactus League at-bats at big league camp this spring. He is slashing .318/.404/.506 with eight extra-base hits, 13 RBIs, 11 walks and seven stolen bases in 22 Texas League games this year.
The Dominican Republic native topped MLB Pipeline’s Top 50 international prospects list in 2024, and the Padres made it consecutive years that they signed the top prospect on that market, inking De Vries to a $4.2 million deal. He went straight to full-season ball and more than held his own, finding his stride in the second half and finishing the year off as the youngest player in the Arizona Fall League to make up for some lost time due to a shoulder strain. He appeared in the Futures Game last year and played his way to High-A when he was the centerpiece prospect sent to the A’s in the Mason Miller Trade Deadline blockbuster. He finished the season strong with a promotion to Double-A, where he went 8-for-19 with three homers over five playoff games.
De Vries will play the entire 2026 season at age 19 but possesses an advanced approach at the plate that belies his years. He walked at a 12.3 percent clip in 2025 while limiting strikeouts, a trend he has continued at Double-A. The switch-hitter flipped his home run splits in 2025 compared to the previous year, and there is more natural loft from the left side, though he did turn on some pitches right-handed late in the year with Midland, and there’s confidence he’ll be productive from both sides of the plate.