Soon after signing Josue De Paula for $397,500 out of the Dominican Republic in 2022, the Dodgers began calling him the most advanced young hitter they've had since Corey Seager and the best international bat since longer than they could remember.
And now De Paula is doing something Seager didn't, and no Dodgers position player has since Andrew Friedman took over as the club's president of baseball operations in October 2014. He's skipping Triple-A and heading straight for the big leagues, set to make his debut as early as Friday in Miami.
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Los Angeles will summon De Paula to help fill a hole at DH left with Shohei Ohtani heading to the injured list with a strained oblique. Losing the two-time defending National League MVP will be a huge blow if his absence extends into the postseason, though De Paula is the top-ranked outfield prospect in baseball and No. 6 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list.
Born in Brooklyn and the second cousin of former NBA guards Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound De Paula elicits comparisons to a slightly smaller but more athletic version of Yordan Alvarez. The Dodgers let Alvarez get away shortly after signing him in 2016, trading him a month later to the Astros in exchange for Josh Fields, who compounded that decision by allowing two critical runs in Game 2 of the 2017 World Series against Houston.
The Alvarez comps come because De Paula has made more advanced swing decisions and hit balls harder than most players his age throughout his pro career. Outside of an 0-for-18 stint in Double-A in the final week of 2025, he has produced everywhere he has traveled in the Minors while annually being one of the youngest players in his leagues since he made his full-season debut in 2023.
A .286/.404/.453 hitter as a pro, De Paula posted even better numbers as a 21-year-old in Double-A this season. He slashed .303/.401/.547 with a career-high 27 homers and 31 steals in 124 games. With four days remaining in the Texas League season, he leads the circuit in hits (152), total bases (274), doubles (37), runs (106) and RBI (104) and ranks third in batting, on-base percentage, slugging and homers.
De Paula tapped into more power in 2026 by turning his pretty left-handed swing loose more often, and while his chase rate jumped to 22 percent from 14 percent a year ago, that’s still excellent for his age and level. He swung and missed just 15 percent of the time (and only 10 percent of the time against strikes) while producing 90th percentile exit velocities at 104 mph and topping out at 111 mph. Looking at the Major League numbers from this year, that's similar to a combination of Kevin McGonigle's bat-to-ball skills and Sal Stewart's damage.
De Paula possesses the batting eye and the confidence to work counts in order to find pitches he can drive. The MVP of the 2025 Futures Game after homering off Noah Schultz of the White Sox, he does a nice job of using the entire field and is learning which offerings he can turn on and launch to his pull side to generate more pop.
While De Paula has below-average speed, he has responded to the Dodgers' challenge that he become more aggressive on the bases. He has swiped 90 bags in the last three seasons, succeeding on 81 percent of his attempts. The weakest part of his game is his defense, as a lack of instincts leads to subpar reads, routes and range in left field, though he does feature average arm strength.
Whether De Paula will get much opportunity down the stretch or in the playoffs remains to be seen. Whenever he gets his chance, he has the tools to eventually contend for big league batting titles while also providing 30 or more homers per season.