In 2025, Leo De Vries was the #4 prospect in baseball. Now in 2026, he sits at #2, right behind the Brewers’ Jesus Made. He was promoted to Double-A Midland late in the year after the trade from the Padres, and that’s where he began 2026.

So far, in 67 games, he is hitting .279 with 9 homers, 10 doubles and 31 RBIs. De Vries is continuing his impressive walk rate in 2026, walking at a 13.9% clip so far this season, up from 12.5% in 2025. The most impressive part from a year ago, however, is his stolen base numbers. DeVries has 28 steals so far this season on 33 attempts. That’s more steals than he had in 2024 and 2025 combined. We knew that De Vries was an above-average runner, but it appears that he has really focused on improving his aggressiveness on the basepaths.

I mentioned in the initial Prospect Spotlight of De Vries that I believed his raw tools could get him to the Major rather quickly, and so far in 2026, he’s proving me right. At this rate, I expect him to be in Triple-A Las Vegas by the end of the year. If that goes well, it wouldn’t suprise me at all to see De Vries break camp with the Athletics in 2027 and have an immediate impact the way that Kevin McGonigle and JJ Wetherholt have had for their respective clubs.

As I said in the initial post, I still don’t believe that his future is at shortstop, mentioning that the Athletics just signed Jacob Wilson to a 7-year contract. At the time, I mentioned that second base might be the spot for De Vries, but it appears that the organization has been attempting to expand his defensive versatility by having him log time at third base.

Regardless of what position he occupies on the diamond, as I said, I expect to see De Vries in the Big Leagues soon. His talent and upside are undeniable, and he’s exactly what an Athletics team on the rise needs.