For the first time under Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers called up a position player directly from Double-A in Josue De Paula.
His bat has been stellar, and even though he is the Dodgers’ top prospect and the No. 6 prospect in baseball, defense has been a huge knock on him. He has a 40-grade fielding tool, the lowest of any position player in the top 10 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list. The Dodgers even have Jason Heyward, who they hired as a special assistant in the spring, helping him improve defensively.
De Paula knows his defense needs to be better if he wants to make a real impact in the big leagues, and he’s not running from it.
“I know that’s a big area of improvement for me,” De Paula told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. “I know I got a lot of hate on it. I’m that type: if I get hate on it, I’m going to focus on it more. So I’m gonna shut a lot of people up with my defense very soon. It’s gonna take some time.”
Dodgers' Josue De Paula Gets Honest
So far, De Paula has just one start in the outfield as a big leaguer. However, that’s because Shohei Ohtani is currently on the injured list, and the Dodgers have the luxury of playing him in the designated hitter spot. Whether the Dodgers decide to send him back to play in Triple-A or not at some point, he will not be able to serve as a designated hitter permanently.
That spot belongs to Ohtani, so De Paula’s path to playing daily is in the outfield. So far, his bat is good enough, and he has great poise at the plate. However, it may actually benefit the Dodgers to have him start next season in Triple-A to iron out his defense.
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