It's fun to wear the same uniform as your favorite players. Baseball fans do it all the time.
For recently signed San Diego Padres prospect Leodalis De Vries, his new brown and yellow jersey is no different.
In a recent interview with MLB Network host and former San Diego Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso, De Vries revealed several Padres among his favorite players:
“Of course, he would love to be with those guys one day," De Vries said, with Alonso interpreting. "He feels incredibly lucky to have that opportunity to hopefully be able to be there. His favorite players are Manny (Machado) and (Fernando) Tatis.”
De Vries said in the same interview that he's been training with Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez, who hails from the same hometown of Bani, Dominican Republic.
He has a long way to go, but De Vries already has a strong list of major league role models lined up.
De Vries, 17, agreed to a $4.2 million signing bonus in January. He was the consensus number-1 international prospect in this year's amateur class.
De Vries told Alonso that he's already envisioned leading the San Diego Padres with fellow 17-year-old Ethan Salas someday. Salas, a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball, has already reached Double-A.
The path to San Diego might not follow as quickly for De Vries, but fans might not have to wait long to see him. Baseball America's Ben Badler reported that De Vries has a chance to climb the minor league ranks quickly:
De Vries is a polished hitter for 17, with significant game experience and a knack for consistently getting on base. He uses his hands well at the plate with a compact, adjustable swing that has good path through the hitting zone and enables him to cover the plate well with a low swing-and-miss rate. It’s a mature offensive approach for his age, with the ability to slow the game down at the plate, comfort using the opposite field with backspin or turning on pitches on the inner third. It’s a good mix of high contact and impact, with De Vries showing the bat speed and loft to drive the ball out of the park in games with potential above-average power.
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