Dodgers slide Josue De Paula up to leadoff spot

There’s no sugarcoating Ohtani’s struggles at the plate, where he has looked uncomfortable and, at times, completely lost. The 32-year-old generational talent is hitting just .150 (3-for-20) with seven strikeouts this postseason. His power outage has extended well beyond October, as he went 11-for-70 (.157) with 29 strikeouts over his final 18 regular-season games since his last home run on August 18. At this point, it’s fair to wonder whether top prospect Josue De Paula deserves a look in hopes of providing an unexpected spark, particularly with Los Angeles struggling to generate any over-the-fence pop this postseason. The Dodgers are facing a 2-0 deficit as the best-of-seven series heads to California for Game 3 on Wednesday.

De Paula, 21, impressed enough in his 11 games with the Dodgers to end the year to be an option for Los Angeles as they look to win their third-consecutive World Series. He’ll be on the roster but Daulton Rushing will not be with the Dodgers to open their playoff push. Hunter Feduccia will be the backup backstop for the five-game series.

De Paula winds up back in the minors after sipping a quick cup of coffee with generational talent Shohei Ohtani returning from the injured list. The 21-year-old top prospect lived up to the considerable hype, making the leap from Double-A to the majors seamlessly, hitting .323 (10-for-31) with one homer, seven RBI and one steal in 11 games. He also walked 11 times and only struck out five times in 42 plate appearances. The decision to option him at this exact moment keeps him available to be included on Los Angeles’ NLDS roster. He seems like a strong bet to make a postseason appearance after looking completely unfazed during his first exposure to the majors.

We don’t want to jump the gun, but it sure looks like DePaula is going to be on the Dodgers’ postseason roster, even if he’s not a starter following Shohei Ohtani’s return. He’s at .238/.448/.476 with a ludicrous 2/8 K/BB through 29 plate appearances.

De Paula takes a seat with veteran Teoscar Hernández at DH and Kyle Tucker in right field to face Cincinnati southpaw Andrew Abbott. The 21-year-old phenom went 0-for-5 out of the leadoff spot on Tuesday and is hitting just .143 (2-for-14) with one homer, three RBI and one steal in five games since being promoted from Double-A Tulsa last week. The fact that he’s hitting some initial turbulence isn’t a surprise at all considering his relative inexperience while facing big-league arms for the first time. He has an extremely bright future ahead of him as an all-around fantasy contributor. The big question is whether he’ll have a spot with Los Angeles once Shohei Ohtani (biceps, knee) is ready to return from the injured list next week.

Nick Lodolo is on the mound for the Reds, so De Paula moves down to ninth in the order, but it’s nice to see that he will remain in the lineup, even against lefties. He hit .267 off lefties in Double-A, but had just eight extra-base hits all season, so we’ll watch closely to see how he handles Major League lefties.

And what a way to do it, as the top prospect slugger crushed a pitch from Eury Pérez into the second deck in right field. The moonshot traveled an estimated 416 feet, with an exit velocity of 108.2 mph. The 21-year-old also doubled in the sixth inning. The display of raw power on the home run was impressive — and tantalizing for fantasy managers — as we look to the home stretch and beyond, but he’s also worked four walks to start his brief MLB career. We’d expect the usual ups-and-downs for a rookie hitter, but his potential is off the charts.

Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts noted that it’s just a routine day of rest, as the team didn’t want the 33-year-old outfielder to play in three straight games on the turf in Miami. Josue De Paula will start in his place in left field and bat sixth for the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon.

It may be unrealistic to expect De Paula to blossom into an immediate fantasy superstar, but he’s that caliber of special talent as a hitter. The 21-year-old prodigy went 0-for-3 with a walk during his major-league debut on Friday night. He has a roughly two-week runway to show the Dodgers what he can do while Shohei Ohtani is on the injured list with knee and biceps issues. He does a phenomenal job of controlling the strike zone, makes a ton of contact and possesses elite raw power. Simply put, he checks almost every metaphorical box as a hitting prospect. He’s worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy leagues based solely on his immense talent.

De Paula went hitless in three at-bats, and was also thrown out attempting to steal a base, out of the seventh spot in Los Angeles’ lineup. The 21-year-old top prospect will serve as the club’s primary DH while two-way star Shohei Ohtani is on the injured list. It might be unrealistic to expect him to make a significant fantasy impact right away, but he’s one of the most talented prospects in the entire sport and boasts significant power potential.