"The Mutant" Leodalis De Vries continues to impress this summer

Leodalis De Vries continues to swing an impressive bat and looks to be on the fast track to the San Diego Padres.

Photo byLake Elsinore Storm

The San Diego Padres are in the midst of an exciting time for the franchise.

At the major league level, the current roster is full of relevant players and superstars. The ownership group is spending money like no era before, and the Padres are a franchise the city of San Diego is proud of. This is a special time in America's Finest City.

The minor league system is currently being revamped as the Padres traded a dozen or so prospects in the last six months. Dylan Cease, Luis Arraez, Tanner Scott, Jason Adam, and Bryan Hoeing added strength to the Padres roster for their 2024 run at a World Series title.

In acquiring all that talent, minor-league players like Robby Snelling, Homer Bush Jr., and Dylan Lesko became expendable. Some fans do not appreciate this philosophy, but we are talking about success at the major league level, not minor league championships. Nobody recognizes or remembers who won the Double-A title.

And let us not forget. Prospects are prospects.

Though most believe the Padres farm system is bare, there are two huge names on top of the list.

Ethan Salas and Leodalis De Vries.

The Padres used most of their allowance in the last two international signing periods to secure the obvious best player available. Salas and De Vries are virtually guaranteed major league service time as their skill set is widely on display as teenagers Both men signed with the Padres really young and are expected to be cornerstones of the franchise for years to come.

Ethan Salas is struggling with the Fort Wayne TinCaps, but the catcher is showing signs of late. The Padres will be patient with Salas, who is only 18 and made it all the way to Double-A last season with the Missions. Salas played in nine games for San Antonio at the age of 17, which is unreal.

For De Vries, the 17-year-old is in Lake Elsinore and playing at the Low Single-A level. When asked about De Vries before the season started, manager Lukas Ray beamed. "He is an exciting player," Ray said with a smirk on his face. At the time of that interview, De Vries was not officially added to the roster. So he did not go into specifics about the infielder.

The shortstop started his season slowly in Lake Elsinore but picked up the pace as a scolding-hot July put several eyes on the young Dominican. De Vries recorded a 1.136 OPS in July with eight homers in 21 games. The switch-hitter is now showing plus power and is only now starting to get a feel for his swing. His upside is enormous.

Since July 1, his numbers have been outrageous. De Vries owns a 171 wRC+, a .470 wOBA, and a .317 ISO (isolated power) in that time. His power numbers are on the rise, and that is a scary thought, as De Vries was not really considered a huge power threat. The thought was he would be average as far as driving the ball. Obviously, this is a small sample size, but we are talking about a 17-year-old playing against older competition. For the Padres, this is exciting information.

His plate discipline numbers since July 1 are also impressive, as the added power is not hindering his overall swing. De Vries has put up a 75.6% Z-Contact, a 12% SwSrT Percentage, and a 24.8 Chase Percentage. In the words of EVT's own Clark Fahrenthold- "All the numbers are very good. He is basically aggressively selective."

Lastly, De Vries has a 19.8 Line Drive Percentage and 71.5 % in Heart Swings since July 1. The teenager sees the ball well and recognizes strikes. His future is exciting.

"El Mutante" is the nickname for Leodalis De Vries. Most people recognize that his skill set is special. He is a mutant in every sense of the word.