Josue De Paula has been everything the Los Angeles Dodgers could have hoped for in the batter’s box during since getting called up for his MLB debut.
Since being added onto the Dodgers roster to replace Shohei Ohtani as the everyday designated hitter, De Paula has shown off his patience, ability to take a quality at-bat, and power and speed combination. The sky is the limit for De Paula’s offensive capabilities, and that’s what carried him to the MLB level.
But his defense in the outfield is a major area of concern, and it’s part of the reason the Dodgers did not call De Paula up until needing a regular DH. As they look ahead to the postseason, De Paula is likely to be limited to being a bat off the bench, given his defensive struggles and the uptick of production from Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker.
However, De Paula knows he needs to improve in the outfield, and he’s made it a focus during his first stint at the MLB level.
“Every day. I know that’s a big area of improvement for me, and I know I’ve got a lot of hate on it,” De Paula said. “I’m the type that if I get hate on it, I’m going to focus on it more. I’m going to shut a lot of people up with my defense very soon.”
De Paula has spent time before every game practicing his defense, working with Dodgers coaches to become more of a usable option in the outfield. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has taken notice of that, and issued a challenge to De Paula.
“Well, it’s clear he needs to improve on his defense,” Roberts said. “How do you shut people up? You perform better. You practice hard, and that’s how you do it. My challenge to him is to be a complete baseball player, and not just to be a hitter. So he’s putting a lot of good work with Dino every day, and so I welcome that.”
Josue De Paula praises Dodgers teammates
De Paula became the first position player promoted from Double-A by Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, creating lofty expectations for himself.
The 21-year-old has felt prepared to meet the challenge of playing in the Majors head-on and credits his Dodgers teammates for creating an environment conducive to letting him play freely.
“Probably the biggest is takeaway is it’s basically the same game, just around different people,” De Paula said on SportsNet LA. “But one thing I didn’t expect was this team to be so cool. Like, all the players, the way they accepted me, the way they greeted me, making me feel comfortable. It put me in a better position to be me.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
