Josue De Paula, Christian Zazueta named Dodgers minor league player, pitcher of year

LOS ANGELES — Josue De Paula will be on the field at Dodger Stadium on Sunday whether or not he plays in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. That’s because he and Christian Zazueta will be honored on the field as the Branch Rickey Award winners as the Dodgers 2026 minor league player and pitcher of the year.

De Paula is the Dodgers’ best prospect — in MLB Pipeline rankings updated just this week, De Paula is the fourth-best prospect in the sport, to name one outlet. He hit .303/.401/.547 with a 145 wRC+ 37 doubles, 27 home runs, 31 steals, 106 runs scored, 104 RBI, and nearly as many walks (81) as strikeouts (87) for Double-A Tulsa to win Texas League MVP, more than doubling his career highs in home runs and extra-base hits.

Then De Paula made his major league debut in September, hitting a robust .323/.500/.581 with three home runs, a triple, and a double in 11 games when Shohei Ohtani was on the injured list, with 11 walks against only five strikeouts. There’s an excellent chance the 21-year-old will be active on the Dodgers’ roster for the NLDS against the Braves, and in between he reached base five times in three postseason games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, helping the Comets win the Pacific Coast League title and the Triple-A national championship game.

Zazueta didn’t win any particular league awards, but only because he split his time nearly evenly between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa, posting a 3.65 ERA in 23 games, including 22 starts, with 144 strikeouts against only 20 walks in 103 2/3 innings. Among the 264 pitchers with at least 100 minor league innings in 2026, Zazueta’s 30.4-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate was the best.

In 12 starts for Double-A Tulsa, Zazueta had a 3.44 ERA and 78 strikeouts against only eight walks. The Mexican right-hander, acquired from the New York Yankees for Caleb Ferguson in February 2024, turns 22 on Wednesday.

This is the second straight Branch Rickey Award for Zazueta, who was also the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year in 2025 as well. He’s the fourth Dodger to win multiple minor league pitcher of the year awards since the honor began in 1989, joining Chad Billingsley (2004-05), James McDonald (2007-08), and Zach Lee (2013, 2015).