De Vries, Salas show why they're top prospects at Spring Breakout
PEORIA, Ariz. -- It's been precisely one year since the Padres traded for Dylan Cease. Nearly two months later, they landed Luis Arraez. At the ensuing Trade Deadline, they made two major moves to bolster their bullpen. Naturally, those deals depleted the upper levels of their farm system. Still, the
PEORIA, Ariz. -- It's been precisely one year since the Padres traded for Dylan Cease. Nearly two months later, they landed Luis Arraez. At the ensuing Trade Deadline, they made two major moves to bolster their bullpen.
Naturally, those deals depleted the upper levels of their farm system. Still, the Padres hung onto Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas -- their two best prospects -- and touted the talent at the lower levels of their system. On Friday, they put that system on display in their second annual Spring Breakout game.
De Vries and Salas were standouts in the Padres' 5-2 loss to the A's top prospects at Peoria Stadium. Of course, De Vries and Salas have been standouts all spring, really. The two 18-year-old prospects held their own in big league camp before they were sent down last week.
On Friday, Salas notched two hits and made an excellent throw to nail Brayan Buelvas stealing second base in the sixth inning. De Vries mashed two balls 102 mph off the bat -- one a double, the other robbed by A's center fielder Denzel Clarke.
"It was a good experience," De Vries said through interpreter Danny Sanchez. "Obviously, [we're] a little bothered that the result wasn't better. We had to make some adjustments early on. But overall, it was a really good experience."
Clarke's diving catch to rob De Vries was the closest the Padres came to a hit until they broke through in the seventh inning.
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"The energy was a little down in the beginning, but once we started to get all the guys rolling, we started to get better as the game went on," Salas said.
Salas' first hit was a strange one -- an up-and-in fastball that hit the knob of the bat and trickled down the third-base line as he ran safely to first base. He singled the more conventional way in the ninth -- a line drive to right, as the Padres' attempt at a late rally fell short.
In some ways, the early offensive struggles were predictable. In a game featuring top prospects, the Padres ran out a lineup with far less professional experience than the A's -- and they were overmatched early by some higher level A's pitchers.
Jack Costello, a 10th-round pick in last year's Draft, broke up the no-hitter with a clean single in the seventh inning. He and Salas came around to score on Tyler Robertson's two-run single. In the eighth and ninth, the Padres threatened as well, but came up empty.
"It was fun," Salas said. "It was good competition. Put up a good game, started to get hot toward the end."
AJ Cassavell covers the Padres for MLB.com.
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