Padres top prospect De Vries has ability to be team’s ‘spark plug’
Young shortstop set to lead San Diego’s Spring Breakout squad on Friday
PEORIA, Ariz. — Late last August, after Padres prospect Leo De Vries suffered the right shoulder injury that would eventually end his first professional season, vice president of player development Ryley Westman briefly raised the possibility of sending him to the team’s Spring Training complex in Peoria. There, San Diego’s staff could closely monitor De Vries’ recovery.
Of course, the Padres would also be taking one of their most exciting prospects out of his preferred habitat — on a baseball field, in a baseball clubhouse, part of meaningful baseball games. The staff at Single-A Lake Elsinore pushed back on the idea. They were in the midst of a run to the California League Championship Series. De Vries, whether he was on the field or not, would be an integral part of that push.
“He was the energy,” then-Lake Elsinore manager Lukas Ray said. “He was a huge spark plug for our dugout. We were like: ‘We need him here.’”
“I wanted to be there,” De Vries said through interpreter and director of business communications and Spanish media relations Danny Sanchez. “It’s all about supporting my teammates and being there for them. I wanted to be there in the dugout to bring that energy, bring that support.”
Westman relented. He’d seen it, too, after all. There was that time earlier in the season when the Storm were game-planning for that day’s opposing starter. A room full of hitters was informed they’d be facing a velocity monster, capable of hitting 100 mph.
That elicited a groan or two around the room. De Vries was having none of that. He began to clap his hands, pumping the room up, Westman recalled.
