A clip from ESPN Béisbol was all it took to put Josué De Paula on everyone’s radar. Posted on September 15, the video shows De Paula taking a pitch the exact same way Juan Soto would — calm, patient, completely unbothered. The comment wrote itself. What nobody expected was for the Statcast numbers to immediately back it up.
The Comparison ESPN Béisbol Made
The clip went up on September 14, 2026 on the ESPN Béisbol account with a simple caption: De Paula took that pitch just like Juan Soto would. No extra context needed — the video did the talking.
The Soto reference isn’t random. Soto is arguably the best plate eye of his generation: he walks, he waits, he doesn’t chase. He’s Dominican. And when a Dominican prospect shows that same discipline in his first big-league games, the comparison arrives on its own. The real question is whether the numbers can hold it up.
What Statcast Says After Just 4 MLB Games
De Paula has played in only 4 MLB games in 2026. That’s a tiny sample — but Statcast already has plenty to say.
- OPS: 1.402 — a number most hitters never touch in an entire season
- xwOBA: .542 — meaning the quality of his contact suggests he should be hitting even better than he already is
- 5 walks, 0 strikeouts in 11 plate appearances
- OBP: .500 — he reaches base half the time he steps to the plate
- Barrel rate: 28.6% | Hard-hit rate: 57.1%
That last line matters. When De Paula does make contact, he hits it hard. These aren’t the numbers of a prospect feeling his way through the majors — they’re elite contact numbers from someone who looks like he already belongs.
And the patience? That’s the Soto part. Not the power — the zone control. Five walks and zero strikeouts in 11 plate appearances is exactly the profile that makes Soto so valuable. De Paula is doing the same thing, right out of the gate.
