Josue De Paula certainly has some fans within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
A host of injuries late in the regular season led to De Paula's initial call-up to the big leagues . In 11 games, the 21-year-old hit .323 while compiling a stellar 1.081 OPS. Had more than double the amount of walks (11) to strikeouts (5).
Most importantly, he did not look out of place.
The Dodgers ended up keeping De Paula on the postseason rosters ahead of his main competition, Dalton Rushing. across three plate appearances, De Paula drew two walks. He worked counts like a 10-year-veteran. The outfielder also demonstrated immense patience and maturity.
As we head to 2027, isn't it time for De Paula to get an extended runway on maximizing the immense potential he brings to the table?
The current construction of the team essentially blocks De Paula. Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani are entrenched at first baseman and designated hitter, respectively. Andy Pages isn't going anywhere, nor is Kyle Tucker.
The only possible spot for De Paula would be in left field. Teoscar Hernandez still has another year left on his deal. In terms of getting younger and fully allowing De Paula to play, Hernandez needs to be dealt.
De Paula's defense is still a work in progress. No one is expecting him to become a Gold Glove-level fielder. His bat has always done the proverbial talking for him at each and every level.
Speaking of which, the bat is special. He was terrific in Double-A this past season,ranking elite in more than a handful of advanced analytics. De Paula rarely swings and misses, and squares up the baseball as well as anyone within his age range.
The Dodgers are deep and good enough to afford him the opportunity to play through mistakes. You're looking at arguably the most gifted bat in the minor leagues from this past season.
At some point, the Dodgers simply have to see what they have with De Paula. We've seen the organization sometimes hold onto highly-touted prospects for too long, thus hurting their value on the market as well as their overall development.
It wouldn't make sense to have De Paula simply be a part-time reserve. If the star power really is present, he's demonstrated enough poise to at least see if he's ready to tackle the rigors and challenges of major league pitching on a daily basis.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/dodgers/onsi as Dodgers Have 21-Year-Old Lineup Solution Hiding in Plain Sight .
