The Dodgers are calling up outfield prospect Josue De Paula, with sources telling ESPN he is expected to join the team on Friday for the start of a seven-game road trip through Miami and Cincinnati. De Paula was rated the 10th-best prospect in ESPN insider Kiley McDaniel's updated top 100 MLB prospect rankings.
The call-up comes as the Dodgers weigh placing Shohei Ohtani on the injured list. Ohtani has missed six of the past seven games with soreness in his right arm while also dealing with discomfort in his left knee. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters before Wednesday's game that placing Ohtani on the IL is a possibility.
De Paula's promotion likely means he will get a chance to accumulate at-bats at DH while Ohtani rests up for the stretch run before the playoffs.
De Paula, 21, has been slashing .302/.400/.539 with 26 home runs and 31 stolen bases in 123 games at Double-A this season. He was signed out of the Dominican Republic for slightly less than $400,000 in 2022 and breezed past the Dominican Summer League and both Class A levels in his first four years in the organization, becoming the Dodgers' consensus top prospect.
The Dodgers, winners of six straight games heading into Wednesday, are also without center fielder Andy Pages, who is recovering from a fracture in his left hand. First baseman Freddie Freeman is nursing right knee soreness that prompted him to DH on Tuesday and kept him out of the lineup on Wednesday, though Roberts doesn't expect him to go on the IL.
