Josue De Paula has accomplished a ton during his Minor League tenure -- multihomer games, Player of the Month honors and two All-Star Futures Game selections (even winning that contest's MVP honors in 2025). But Tuesday night, he added something new to his résumé:
A walk-off homer.
The Dodgers’ top prospect hammered a three-run shot off a hanging breaking ball from right-hander Alfred Morillo (D-backs) over the bullpen beyond the right-field fence at ONEOK Field to seal Double-A Tulsa's 8-6 win over Amarillo.
The roundtripper -- just the second of his career in the ninth inning or later -- marked his sixth of the month, giving him 15 RBIs during 14 August contests. De Paula is slashing .320/.426/.740 since the calendar turned and his 37 total bases are tied for sixth-most in the Texas League over that stretch.
It’s been a remarkably consistent 2026 campaign for MLB’s No. 6 prospect, who is looking to post an OPS above .900 for a fourth consecutive month. No matter how you slice De Paula’s season by various splits, it’s been nothing short of exemplary -- a .412/.500/.649 slash line with runners in scoring position, hitting .364 with the bases loaded, an OPS north of 1.000 in five different innings on top of posting at least a .300 average in both day and night games, home or road.
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In addition to leading the Texas League in hitting (.314), De Paula is also closing in on some Dodgers Minor League history. With 29 steals, he’s one swipe away from becoming just the second member of the organization to post a 20-homer, 30-steal campaign since at least 2006 -- Joc Pederson did so in both 2013 and ‘14, reaching the elusive 30/30 mark during the latter season. A year later, he was a National League All-Star.
Award-winning years don't need a defining moment, but it sure helps to have one. De Paula figures to be among the candidates with a legitimate chance to claim MiLB Hitting Prospect of the Year honors in 2026 after a career year -- his 23 homers and 91 RBIs in 106 games far outpace his production from the past two seasons. At the conclusion of play Tuesday, 12 players across the Minors had delivered 90+ RBIs in 2026 -- four were Dodgers (and a fifth, Zyhir Hope, was one just a few weeks ago).
COMPLETE DODGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
And De Paula wasn’t the only one making waves on the Dodgers’ farm Tuesday night. James Tibbs III (LAD No. 7) went deep twice on a four-hit night for Triple-A Oklahoma City, while teammate Zach Ehrhard (LAD No. 15) reached base for the 33rd time in 15 games this month. Charles Davalan (LAD No. 6/MLB No. 87) collected a knock for High-A Great Lakes, with his OPS sitting at .970, fifth-best in the system.
That depth of talent led to the Dodgers reclaiming the top spot on MLB Pipeline's Farm System Rankings. Even after dealing Top 100 prospects Hope and River Ryan to the Tigers in exchange for Tarik Skubal at the Trade Deadline, L.A. still boasts six talents on that list, none ranked higher than De Paula.