Josue De Paula just snagged the Texas League MVP award on Monday, and honestly, if you’ve been watching this dude, you know it was a no-brainer. This comes after an absolutely wild season in Double-A Tulsa, and now he is already making a major impact in the big leagues.
In 124 games with the Drillers, De Paula put up numbers that scream future superstar: a ridiculous .303 batting average, a .401 on-base percentage, and a .547 slugging percentage. That’s a 145 wRC+ right there, showing he was way better than league average. He hammered 27 home runs, mashed 37 doubles, scored 106 runs, drove in 104 RBI, and swiped 31 bases. This dude didn’t just set career highs, he absolutely shattered them, more than doubling his previous bests in homers (from 12) and extra-base hits (66, up from 30). He led the league in runs, RBI, hits, and doubles, plus he was top five in pretty much everything else, including OPS, slugging, OBP, batting average, dingers, and stolen bases. Baseball America even named him the Dodgers minor league player of the year, which is huge.
He hasn’t slowed down since getting the call-up either. In his first 10 major league games, De Paula’s reached base 18 times in 38 trips to the plate. With 10 walks and only four strikeouts, he is showing incredible plate discipline. He is hitting .286/.474/.500 with three doubles and a homer already. The Drillers were loaded this year, with the entire Texas League All-Star outfield being Tulsa guys, including Zyhir Hope and Mike Sirota alongside De Paula. Shoutout to Eric Wedge, too, who took home Texas League manager of the year! What a season for that whole organization.
De Paula joins Charles Davalan and Easton Shelton as minor league MVPs for the Dodgers this year, and there’s chatter that James Tibbs III could grab the Pacific Coast League MVP next. Keep an eye on De Paula, because this kid is just getting started, and he is going to be a force for years to come.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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