De Leon will start Saturday's game against Venezuela.
Saturday marks De Leon's first appearance of the World Baseball Classic as Puerto Rico looks to remain undefeated. He was recently optioned to Triple-A after an uneven stint in major league spring training in which he was touched up for 12 earned runs across four starts (17.0 IP). De Leon has exhibited swing-and-miss stuff, however, as he fanned 19 batters in those four outings.