May 23rd, 2015 at 10:16 am 
by Harold Uhlman Dodgers Top-10 pitching prospect Jose De Leon made his AA debut with the Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League on Friday evening. He had been promoted to the Drillers after going 4-1 in seven starts with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League while posting a 1.67 ERA and WHIP of 0.90. In 37.2 innings he struck out 58 and walked but eight.
De Leon, who was selected by the Dodgers in the 24th round of the 2013 First Year Player Draft, did not draw an easy assignment for his initial game at the AA level. It might be described as a baptism in fire. The Drillers not only were on the road but were facing the hottest team in the Texas League. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals of the American League. At game time on Friday evening the Naturals had a record of 28-12 easily the best in the Texas League and leading the Drillers by 9.5 games in the Northern Division of the league. The Naturals lead the league in batting average, in home runs and in runs batted in.
Jose De Leon now has 66 strikeouts on the season – 58 with the Quakes and 8 with the Drillers.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Drillers pitching coach Matt Herges in a pre-game interview indicated he had not yet seen the young right-hander pitch but was anxious to do so as he had heard his stuff is electric. Herges referred to De Leon as the second best pitching prospect in the Dodgers farm system.
Dennis Higgins the Drillers play-by-play announcer in a between pitch commentary mentioned that De Leon’s former manager, Bill Haselman of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, spoke of his fastball but was most impressed with his his change up that he described as “unbelievable”.
The first batter to face De Leon in his debut was Naturals second baseman Angel Franco whose .341 batting average ranked fourth in the league. Franco struck out swinging on four pitches. The second hitter has a familiar name – Raul Mondesi. He is the son of former Dodger right fielder and 1994 NL Rookie of the Year Raul Mondesi and unlike his father plays shortstop. However, he too struck out on four pitches.
De Leon’s fastball during the game was clocked in the low 90’s while his change up came in at about 81 mph. He did not hesitate to throw the ball in the dirt as experienced catcher Ali Solis had no trouble blocking them. In the third inning De Leon walked his first batter. Solis quickly came out to the mound to chat with him.
With two outs in the third inning the Drillers appeared to have what was a sure third out when Terrance Gore looked to be easily out trying to steal second base. The Drillers infielders started to leave the field only to have the umpire Clayton Hamm call Gore safe. Following another walk left fielder Jorge Bonifacio hit a three run home to left field.
The question then became how Jose De Leon would react to the call and consequent three run shot. He answered that question by getting the third out on three straight fast balls to third baseman Hunter Dozier making it five strikeouts in three innings.
De Leon retired the next nine hitters he faced in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings – three by strikeouts and two with come backers to the mound.
Jose De Leon did not come out for the seventh inning. He gave up three hits in six innings along with eight strikeouts. He walked only two but unfortunately both of them came around to score on the Bonifacio home run.
On the evening he made 89 pitches, 62 of them for strikes and left the game with the Drillers trailing 3-0.
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Many are calling Jose De Leon the second best pitching prospect in the Dodgers minor league organization. And while I wish to take absolutely nothing away from Julio Urias, I believe that De Leon is the better of the two.
Jose showed great composure after the third inning call and also on some very close calls not called strikes.
He is a full four years older than Julio so it is difficult to project what Julio will be like in four years time. I think you are right that Jose is a step ahead of Julio now but I expect Julio’s ranking as #1 relates to his projection in the next three years. The question is – who has more room to grow from this point on?
I also think that Jose caught everyone off guard and some pundits figured he would flame out as he progressed to higher levels not believing what they saw. He surely looked like an AA pitcher last night. He worked very quickly – which was a good sign of confidence – and mixed his pitches well. He knows how to pitch.
I am just glad that they are both Dodgers – lefty and righty.
I am always amazed by how the so-called experts (or pundits, as you called them) can evaluate a guy without seeing him pitch in person – and I don’t just mean on TV. There is no ranking or rating charts for how a player interacts with his teammates, the fans, the media and his coaches. These, in my opinion, are huge in showing a players character and personality.
I have been blessed to have seen both Urias and De Leon in person and I am overwhelmed by their poise and maturity. Both are fine young men who will do well.
That said, I stand by my belief that De Leon is the better of the two in the long run.