Inside The Padres

Padres Top Prospect Hits For Cycle in Impressive Display

Feb 19, 2025; Peoria, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres infielder Leodalis De Vries poses for a portrait during Media Day at Peoria Sports Complex.
Feb 19, 2025; Peoria, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres infielder Leodalis De Vries poses for a portrait during Media Day at Peoria Sports Complex. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Astute Padres fans are already aware of — and closely watching — Leodalis de Vries, the No. 1 prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline.

Tuesday, de Vries achieved a rare feat for the first time as a professional, capturing the attention of prospect watchers across the baseball world.

De Vries, 18, hit for the cycle in the Fort Wayne (Ind.) TinCaps' game against the Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts. The shortstop went 5-for-5 with two home runs and eight RBIs in addition to his single, double and triple.

The career performance began in the first inning with a solo home run against Jake Garland, a 24-year-old right-hander listed at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds.

A double in the third inning, and a two-run home run in the fifth inning, followed. Garland was out of the game by the time de Vries added a single in the sixth and a triple in the ninth.

Fort Wayne needed all eight of de Vries' RBIs. The TinCaps come back from deficits of 4-1 and 9-2 to eke out a 15-14 victory over Lansing.

De Vries is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 17 overall prospect in baseball but could move up the midseason ranks if he continues to rake at his current rate. The average age in the Midwest League is 22. According to Baseball Reference, de Vries is the youngest player to take an at-bat in the league this season by a full two years.

According to MLB.com, de Vries set a team record with his eight RBIs and became the third TinCap to complete the cycle; he's just the 13th minor leaguer to hit for a cycle since 2005.

More news: Padres Linked to Free Agent Pitcher in Potential Savvy Signing

Hitting two home runs in a cycle is especially rare. Via MLB.com's Michael Avallone, only seven Major Leaguers have hit for the cycle during a two-homer game since 1901:

• Greg Colbrunn, AZ, Sept. 18, 2002
• George Brett, KC, May 28, 1975
• Carl Yastrzemski, BOS, May 14, 1965
• Ralph Kiner, PIT, June 25, 1950
• Gil Hodges, BRO, June 25, 1949
• Joe DiMaggio, NYY, May 20, 1948 and July 7, 1939
• Ed Lennox, PIT (Federal League), May 6, 1914

More news: Jackson Merrill's Contract Extension Could Save Padres 'Hundreds of Millions' of Dollars

De Vries is slashing .294/.351/.608 in 13 games to start the season. His .959 OPS ranks 15th in the Midwest League.

"He’s been taking great at-bats all year," Fort Wayne manager Lukas Ray told Avallone. "He hit into some poor luck and a few hits didn't fall. Tonight, though, was one of those nights. I didn't know what exactly what type of hits he'd get, but you could just feel he was going to find some holes."

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.


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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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