De Leon delivers in big way during Sags win

They say age is just a number, right? Well, Michael De Leon, who is playing in the Arizona Fall League at the ripe young age of 17, added a couple of other numbers to his resume Thursday.

The Rangers shortstop prospect went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs as his Surprise side defeated Glendale, 6-3, at Camelback Ranch. He more than doubled his AFL RBI total from three to seven with the one-game showing alone.

De Leon, a switch-hitter, collected his first RBI of the afternoon when he drove in John Hicks (Mariners) with a sacrifice fly to left field that knotted the game at 1-1. He added an RBI single in the fifth that brought the Saguaros within a run and pushed the visitors ahead for the first time with a two-run two-bagger in the seventh.

All in all, Thursday's performance represented the youngster's first multi-RBI of the Fall League and, in fact, his most RBIs in a single game since he made his professional debut in May.

De Leon credited Saguaros leadoff man and Padres prospect Mallex Smith, who went 2-for-5 and represented one of the two runners to score on De Leon's double, with an assist for his performance.

"What he was trying to do today was see what Mallex was doing in front of him," said Surprise teammate Deven Marrero, who was speaking for De Leon. "See how they were pitching him and took that same approach with how they pitched Mallex and tried to take that approach to get something good to hit and drive those runs in."

Through 11 games, De Leon is holding his own in the AFL, putting up a .286/.340/.333 line with two doubles, seven RBIs and seven runs scored. Despite his youth and the advanced competition of the Fall League, those numbers, with the caveats of small samples, compare favorably to the .248/.307/.314 line he put up in 93 games (mostly at Class A Hickory) during his first regular season in the Rangers season.

Texas made plenty of heads turn when they decided to send a 17-year-old, who isn't ranked among the system's top 20 prospects, to play against Minor Leaguers who have spent time in the upper levels of the Minors. That being said, the assignment has afforded De Leon a chance to pick up more at-bats before the offseason and become a sponge, soaking up plenty of information from some of the game's top prospects.

It appears to be working thus far.

"What he's trying to do in his pre-work and batting cage and things like that is try to take his swings easy, not try to do too much, and he's trying to make himself more consistent with his swing instead of all over the place," said Marrero, again speaking for De Leon. "Just trying to be more consistent, short to the ball and hitting it where it's pitched."

Designated hitter Kyle Waldrop hit a two-run shot in the eighth inning to conclude the afternoon's scoring. It was the Reds prospect's second homer in the Fall League.

Fellow Cincinnati farmhand and Cuban right-hander Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect seventh inning to maintain his sterling streak in the AFL. Through five innings this autumn, he has yet to allow a run or a hit.

Orioles utilityman Garabez Rosa hit a solo home run -- his third in the AFL -- in the game's second frame to provide some fireworks for Glendale in its loss.

The experimental pace-of-play rules came into effect in the fifth inning when Smith stepped out of the batter's box on a 1-2 count. Under the new system, batters must keep at least one foot in the box at all times, and if they don't, the umpire calls an automatic strike. That's precisely what home-plate ump Derek Mollica did in this case, resulting in a strikeout for Smith.