DUNEDIN, Fla. -- When the Blue Jays split their camp into groups by level this week at the beginning of full-squad workouts, the “Complex” group took Field 1, filling it with some of the organization’s top young International signings from recent years. 

Whether it was something as mundane as running from home to first or a full round of batting practice, Manuel Beltre was out in front, easy to pick out of a crowd with his neon green sunglasses glowing on his face. Ask coaches and the Blue Jays’ player development staff about the club's No. 10 prospect and you’ll hear the same things over and over: Exceptional leader. Team captain. 

“I believe it comes from my family,” Beltre said Tuesday in Dunedin. “It’s something that I do without knowing that I’m doing it. I’m trying to help people if I see they need help. It comes from my family, because my mom and my dad always told me that if I have a chance to help someone, help them without thinking of receiving something back.”

The kicker here? He’s 17. 

There’s no tidy metric to measure leadership qualities, making the often-overused attribute difficult to frame. For Beltre’s age, though, this level of praise is rare. This is typically something that players grow into as they advance through the system, gaining not just baseball experience but life experience. Beltre’s calm confidence is easy to catch, though, and his reasons aren’t all that complicated.

“If my teammates are good, then I’m doing good and we have a better chance to win a championship,” Beltre said.

Signed for $2.35 million out of Invivienda, Dominican Republic, Beltre was billed as one of the most advanced hitters in the 2020-’21 International class. With solid fundamentals across the board, Beltre was arguably the most experienced player in that class of 16-year-olds, having played internationally with teams representing the Dominican Republic and played travel ball with teams in Florida.

Beltre got his first taste of camp last spring and made his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League, where he hit .225 with two home runs and a .737 OPS over 53 games. That DSL Blue Jays team went 38-19, the best record in the league, and Beltre took some positives from his own performance. He walked more than he struck out (42 walks, 33 K’s) and finished strong, improving down the stretch after a period where it seemed like nothing he hit found a hole.

“I learned last year that you can’t freak out if you have a bad game or a bad week,” Beltre said. “You still have another day and another week. If something bad happens today, that’s OK, we have another day. If you don’t get it the next day, you have another and another. Don’t be scared, because sometimes even when you’re failing, you’re doing a really good job.”

On Tuesday in Dunedin, Beltre was part of a stacked batting practice group on Field 1 with Yhoangel Aponte, Yeuni Munoz, Cristian Feliz and others. Beltre’s ability to produce power with his smaller, 5-foot-9 frame has always been a question, but he was hitting line drive after line drive with more natural power than he has shown previously. Beltre is up to 182 pounds, a 13-pound jump from this time last year, by dropping some fat and packing on muscle.

This isn’t to say that Beltre is about to push No. 2 prospect Orelvis Martinez in the system’s home run race this season. Beltre’s power is more about consistently driving the ball to all fields -- while the home run power will come, much of his potential right now lies in a contact-based approach that could develop into true strengths in the upper levels. Even having what qualifies as more “natural” power is a big help, as Beltre won’t need to chase it as much.

“Last year, I felt like I was hitting the ball hard, but the ball wasn’t going that far,” Beltre said. “There wasn’t much exit velocity. This year, I’m just throwing my hands and I can see the ball flying off the bat.”

From here, Beltre wants to end up where most 17- and 18-year-old prospects do, which is on a full-season roster. That would mean Low-A Dunedin, but if Beltre opens in the Florida Complex League, that’s not too far. The test of a full season will be a good measurement of how his bigger frame suits his game, too, as players typically need to work to keep weight on through the season.

This is also the exciting stage where organizations get to see the first major development steps from their young International signings, as they finish their first full year in an organization and get to reset for year No. 2. Having the character of a leader is at least half the battle, but pairing that with production makes it easy for teammates to follow.