MIAMI – Talent evaluators all agree on Josue De Paula’s best spot on the field – the batter’s box.
Reports on the 21-year-old’s defense have not been as flattering.
“I’ve heard,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I just think that – just being candid – I don’t think that he’s valued it as much as he will. And it just has to be important. Certainly, when you get to the big leagues, outs are important, converting outs are important.
“I think that he’s a young player. I mean, he’s 21 years old. His bat has certainly got him here, but it’s our job to make him value defense and get him to be a better defender.”
That job falls to Dodgers coach Dino Ebel who worked with De Paula in spring training and has established a routine with him since he joined the Dodgers on Friday. The pair work in the outfield before each game, focusing on pre-pitch preparation and getting jumps. De Paula worked with Jason Heyward this season on many of the same things and Ebel said the metrics from De Paula’s performance in Double-A show improvements.
“He and Dino are committed to a routine, which I love,” Roberts said. “I think the other important thing is just so he can see how the quality and how intense the work is up here. And I think that you really don’t know until you know, and I’m excited for him to watch our guys, how they prepare each night.”
When De Paula arrived in Miami, Roberts said he planned to start him at DH for each of the three games against the Marlins. But Roberts had second thoughts about playing Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on the turf at LoanDepot Park for three consecutive days. He gave both of them the day off Sunday and started De Paula in left field.
“When I’ve talked to him, I’ve talked to him more about his defense and baserunning than I do the hitting,” Roberts said, also going back to spring training. “For me, he was a better baserunner this year, better basestealer and a better defender. So, yes, there’s a lot of work to come. But he’s still a young player and we have to continue to challenge him.”
Working with Heyward was “awesome,” De Paula said. Over the course of this season, the young outfielder said he has incorporated visualization as part of his routine, improving his focus and concentration on the field.
“I feel like I made improvements in every area – mentally, physically, mental reps in the game, defense too,” he said. “That was a really big thing for me because they always knew my bat was there but it was about making adjustments defensively and I feel like they felt I improved.”
FAREWELL MIAMI
Roberts made a point of putting Miguel Rojas in the starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale. Rojas (who plans to retire following this season) spent eight seasons with the Marlins (between his two stints with the Dodgers). He became an every-day player in those years, establishing himself in the major leagues after arriving with the Dodgers as a defensive specialist.
Rojas emerged as a team leader for the Marlins during those years – something Roberts didn’t realize when the Dodgers re-acquired him before the 2023 season.
“I didn’t,” Roberts said. “I saw a very good defender, a role player. I didn’t see him as a leader. I didn’t know him. But he’s one of our glue guys. He really is an extension of me and the coaching staff in the sense of really hammering home the right way to play the game.”
EBEL BROS
Ebel’s two sons, Brady and Trey, were first-round draft picks of the Milwaukee Brewers one year apart, making it likely the two would cross paths at some point in the Brewers’ farm system. But the two Corona High graduates actually shared an at-bat recently – and it only took a little over a month.
“That’s crazy, isn’t it?” Dino Ebel said. “I can’t imagine that’s happened too many times.”
It’s hard to imagine it ever happening before.
Brady was batting for the Brewers’ Class-A team on July 19 and worked a 2-and-0 count in the first inning before rain and lightning suspended the game. Two months later, the game was resumed.
Brady Ebel had been promoted to High-A by then so another batter stepped in for him – his younger brother, Trey, who had been added to the roster. Trey Ebel completed drawing a walk.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP Tarik Skubal, 9-7, 2.84 ERA) at Reds (LHP Nick Lodolo, 3-4, 5.12 ERA), Monday, 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM