The Los Angeles Dodgers called up Josue De Paula directly from Double-A Tulsa — no Triple-A stop, no gradual ladder. It’s the first time in Andrew Friedman’s 12 years running the organization that a position player has made that jump straight to the active roster. De Paula, a 21-year-old Dominican outfielder ranked No. 6 overall on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, will make his big-league debut Friday against the Marlins in Miami with 16 games left in the regular season.
The Number That Made the Decision Easy
In 124 games with Tulsa this year, De Paula slashed .303/.401/.547 with 27 home runs, 104 RBI and 31 stolen bases — shattering every career high he’d set before in a single season. That’s a .948 OPS in Double-A at 21, with that combination of power and speed. At some point, the stats stop being a conversation and start being a mandate.
MLB Pipeline has him as the top-ranked outfield prospect in all of baseball. Inside the organization, evaluators have been calling him the most advanced young hitter the Dodgers have had since Corey Seager — a two-time World Series MVP. That’s the internal benchmark they’re working with.
Ohtani’s Absence Opened the Door
The immediate trigger was Shohei Ohtani, placed on the 15-day IL with right arm and biceps discomfort. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed De Paula will debut as the designated hitter — the exact role Ohtani was filling. With Freddie Freeman also dealing with a knee issue and Dalton Rushing already on the 10-day IL, the Dodgers were running thin on left-handed power options off the bench.
A Move 12 Years in the Making
The talent is one story. The decision is another. Since Friedman arrived in Los Angeles in 2014, no position player had gone from Double-A directly to the Dodgers’ active roster. The closest historical parallel within the organization is Yasiel Puig — but that was a different front office era entirely.
There’s also a practical layer: De Paula needed to be added to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 Draft in November 2026 regardless. The Dodgers weren’t going to risk losing him, and the roster situation simply accelerated what was likely already in the plans for October.
His one documented weakness is defense. Evaluators project him as a below-average corner outfielder long-term — better suited as a DH. The Dodgers sent Jason Heyward, five-time Gold Glove winner and now a special advisor, to work with him on that side of the game during the season.
Brooklyn, the Dominican Republic and $397,500
De Paula was born in Brooklyn but grew up in the Dominican Republic, where his family returned before he reached high school. The Dodgers signed him during the 2022 international free agent period for $397,500 — a figure that, four years later, already looks like one of the best investments in the organization’s recent history.
He has second cousins in professional sports: former NBA players Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair. His left-handed swing draws comparisons to a smaller, more athletic version of Yordan Álvarez. At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, the physical profile fits the position.
At the 2025 All-Star Futures Game, he was named MVP after hitting a three-run home run — his first big national stage before this one.
With 16 games before the postseason and a banged-up roster leaning on whatever it has left, De Paula arrives at exactly the moment when a prospect has to stop being a promise on paper and start being the real thing.
