MIAMI – Of all the areas Josue De Paula worked on to prepare himself for the Major Leagues, visualization became one of the most important.
He learned to picture situations before they happened and prepare himself for what might come. But even De Paula couldn’t have imagined his first Major League hit unfolding quite like it did on Sunday. The Dodgers’ top prospect launched a three-run homer in the fourth inning in the Dodgers’ 6-4 loss to the Marlins.
“I always visualized success, but I didn't know it was gonna be just like that,” De Paula said. “But yeah, it was crazy.”
Beyond the home run, De Paula brought something else to the team in his first Major League series: a youthful energy that manager Dave Roberts believes can make an impact on a veteran clubhouse.
“That’s a good reminder for all of us,” Roberts said. “I love the energy. I love the confidence. And just as important, seeing how the guys responded to him. You can see they were genuinely excited for him.”
The Dodgers entered Sunday needing a win and a loss by either the D-backs or the Padres to clinch a postseason berth. But with the defeat, they'll have to wait until at least Monday to take that first step toward their much larger goals.
De Paula saw five pitches from Marlins starter Eury Pérez in the top of the fourth inning before getting a 98 mph fastball in the middle of the zone. He sent it deep into the second deck in right field for a Statcast-projected 416-foot home run, with the ball leaving his bat at 108.2 mph with a launch angle of 39 degrees.
“It was awesome, knowing that my parents [were] here,” said De Paula, who had around 15 people in attendance for his MLB debut on Friday. “In that moment, I tried to do something for the team, keep the ball rolling and that was the result.”
De Paula tracked the ball all the way out before throwing his bat and hitting his chest while screaming toward the Dodgers’ dugout. The 21-year-old said he probably forgot for a second that he had to run the bases. He also never thought about how he would celebrate his first hit. It was all natural.
“[It was] sick, to see all of them react that way, they were all rooting for me. They’ve been great and accepted me,” De Paula said. “I was just enjoying the moment, man. There will never be – I feel like – a moment as special as my first one, so I’ll never forget it.”
After rounding the bases, De Paula greeted Will Smith and Kyle Tucker near home plate before heading into the dugout. Smith had doubled and Tucker had walked in the inning. DePaula went 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.
“It was a great moment,” Roberts said. “Getting behind the count, fouling pitches off, staying in the count, getting to a good count, hitting a pull-side homer. Actually, a pretty well-executed pitch, but that was great. And then almost hits another one off the wall. So just a great day. Got a walk. So [he] had a perfect day and a lot of youthful enthusiasm and really uplifting.”
De Paula’s day ended in the bottom of the sixth, when Kiké Hernández replaced him and Alex Call shifted from center field to left. He ended up drawing four walks in 11 plate appearances in the Dodgers’ series in Miami.
“I don't think anyone in our organization is surprised as far as how he was going to conduct an at-bat, and then he had two games where he didn't get a hit but got on base a few times,” Roberts said. “You just saw that he wasn't chasing hits today. … He’s been fantastic, and it was good to also get him out there for five or six innings on defense, too.”
De Paula's biggest takeaway was reminding himself that it's the same game around different people. That comes with him controlling his thoughts and knowing that being a good hitter got him to the Majors. He owned a .303/.401/.547 slash line with a career-high 27 homers and 31 steals in 124 games in Double-A.
“One thing I didn't expect is this team to be so cool,” De Paula said. “Making me feel comfortable, and just putting me in a better position to just be me. … My first two days, I loved my at-bats, even though I didn't get results from [them]. … I don’t need to change anything, and just do what I’ve been doing this whole year. I’ve been raking, so just bringing it up here and trying to help the team however I can."