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The Dodgers received a reality check over the weekend, as Shohei Ohtani’s absence became noticeable, their high-leverage relievers imploded and Tyler Glasnow looked nothing like the dependable postseason starter they expect him to be.
But their visit to Miami wasn’t a complete loss.
Their three games against the Marlins confirmed a belief that has grown over the course of the year: They have a real offensive weapon in Josue De Paula, the rookie who blasted an upper-deck home run Sunday in an otherwise disheartening 6-4 loss.
De Paula can hit.
Like, really hit.
That much is already obvious, so much so that the very nature of the 21-year-old’s September call-up has changed.
What was initially expected to be a cup of coffee is now an audition.
An audition for a spot on the playoff roster. An audition for a starting role in the outfield next season.
The left-handed-hitting De Paula offers the Dodgers the kind of offensive jolt they never got last year, when their season had to be saved by the unlikeliest of home-run heroes in Miguel Rojas.
With Ohtani and Freddie Freeman likely to be playing in October with serious physical limitations, De Paula could be more of a necessity than a luxury for the Dodgers.
At very least, he’s a pinch hitter with a bat that’s like Thor’s hammer.
While his shortcomings as a defender and baserunner rule him out from starting in the Dodgers’ postseason opener, he could be a last-ditch option to replace Kyle Tucker or Teoscar Hernández in the lineup at some point if either of them stops hitting. Or he could be the emergency designated hitter in a worst-case scenario in which Ohtani isn’t healthy enough to play.
On the day he was officially promoted from Double-A Tulsa, De Paula said of making the playoff roster, “That’s always in the back of your head. But I don’t want to get too ahead of myself right now.”
The Brooklyn-born De Paula certainly doesn’t lack confidence, his demeanor reminiscent of his basketball-playing relatives Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair.
In the first week of spring training, I asked De Paula if he thought he could reach the majors this season.
“I think it’s highly likely,” he said.
At the time, De Paula had played only four games above Class A.
There was nothing fake about the bravado.
Called up to the major leagues for the first time on Friday, he looked right away as if he knew he belonged.
He was hitless in his first two games in Miami, but he stayed within himself. He remained patient. He controlled the strike zone.
The result: Four walks in his first 11 plate appearances.
“I just gotta keep doing me,” De Paula said. “My first two days, I loved my at-bats even though I didn’t get the results. I felt like the results were coming really soon, so I just feel like I need to stick with my approach and good things are coming.”
He was right.
In his first time up in the series finale Sunday, De Paula picked up another walk.
A couple of innings later, De Paula stayed alive by fouling off a 2-2 pitch just off the outside edge of the plate. The next pitch was a 98-mph fastball on the inside part of the plate, and De Paula turned on it, sending it soaring into the second deck above the right-field wall for a three-run homer.
De Paula turned to the Dodgers’ bench and pounded his chest. When he returned to the dugout, he howled as he high-fived a gauntlet of teammates.
“I was just enjoying the moment, man,” he said.
De Paula doubled to right-center field in his next at-bat, after which Kiké Hernández replaced him in left field for defensive purposes.
“Not surprised,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m really not. I don’t think anyone in our organization is surprised as far as how he was going to conduct an at-bat.”
The Dodgers know what that means in the long term. They will have to create a place for him in their outfield next season, most likely at the expense of Teoscar Hernández, who turns 34 next month and has one year remaining on his contract.
Less certain is how he factors into their short-term plans. The final two weeks of the regular season will help them determine that.
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