Add The California Post on Google CINCINNATI –– It was not a carbon copy. But observers couldn’t help but make the comparison.
In the top of the fifth inning on Wednesday night, en route to drawing what was already his fifth walk in just four major-league games, top Dodgers prospect Josue De Paula took a low sinker from Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo –– then offered a reaction that had all sorts of shades of Juan Soto in it.
The 21-year-old bent his knees and emphatically stretched his stance wide as the pitch went by. He shook his head assuredly at what he was certain was a ball, the call eventually being confirmed on a failed Reds ABS challenge.
De Paula didn’t exactly shuffle in the way Soto is notorious for doing, with the trademarked “Soto shuffle” becoming one of the defining traits of the New York Mets superstar and five-time All-Star slugger.
But that didn’t stop many who watched the moment live –– including Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis and MLB’s official X account –– from making the comparison in real time.
“There’s a lot of Juan Soto there,” Davis said on the team’s SNLA broadcast.
During his ascent as one of MLB’s top talents in recent years, following the Brooklyn-raised prospect’s signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2022, De Paula has come to idolize fellow Dominican stars such as Soto and Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds.
Thanks to their shared representation with Boras Corporation, De Paula has been able to develop relationships with both of them, too, even sharing an embrace with De La Cruz behind the infield at Great American Ball Park before Monday’s series opener.
De Paula said he has tried to take different parts from each of their games, specifically De La Cruz’s “electricness” and Soto’s plate discipline.
Thus, even though De Paula wasn’t intentionally trying to copy Soto on Monday night, he joked he might have been subconsciously inspired nonetheless.
“I wasn’t exactly trying to emulate it. It was more just me being so locked in and getting into my legs,” he told the California Post. “But I can understand how it looks like a Soto shuffle. And if people think it looks like that, hey, I’m not mad at it.”
De Paula has quickly been making his own mark on the majors since being called up straight from double-A last week.
Filling in for the injured Shohei Ohtani as the Dodgers’ DH, he has reached base in half of his 14 plate appearances entering Tuesday night, and collected his first two hits on Sunday in Miami with a towering three-run homer and a double off the wall.
“I think it speaks more to the heartbeat, the ability to not spike or get too emotional with this different environment,” manager Dave Roberts said of De Paula’s seamless transition to the majors thus far. “He’s maintained that calm in the box. That’s really good to see.”
It was enough for De Paula to get another honor on Tuesday, slotted in as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter in what was his fifth-consecutive start.
And while his time as an everyday bat might be limited for now –– assuming Ohtani returns to health and Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker hold onto their jobs in the corner outfield slots –– Roberts said De Paula is already putting himself in the conversation to be on the team’s postseason roster, likely as a left-handed option off the bench.
“I just hope he continues to perform and take those at-bats and then we’ll see where we’re at come the end of September,” Roberts said. “It’s been good that you can even bring that question up.”
De Paula isn’t thinking that far ahead yet, but is quickly settling in among a veteran Dodgers squad.
He noted how he now has “a team full of All-Stars, superstars and Hall of Famers” to also learn from, wanting “to pick up what I can, take pieces of it, and put it in my game.” (On Tuesday, that included a chat with Mookie Betts about outfield defense fundamentals).
De Paula also said he hasn’t “even got a chance to feel super nervous” in his new surroundings, thanks to how welcoming the coaching staff and clubhouse have been since his arrival last week.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this team of vets is super cool,’” De Paula said. “They were like, ‘Just be you. You’ve been raking. So nothing changes. It’s the same game.’”
Indeed, De Paula has hardly seemed impacted by MLB opposition.
He has shown why his “DNA as a hitter has always been to control the strike zone,” as Roberts described it, entering Tuesday without a strikeout yet.
He has also flashed his tantalizing power, clobbering six of his nine batted balls so far at 97 mph or harder.
And now, he is giving the Dodgers something to think about when it comes to their postseason plans –– turning a young prospect who has long looked up to other MLB stars into a potentially budding impact player himself.
“I think just the confidence has carried over,” De Paula said of his early success. “All these years, I know what type of hitter I am. And so once I got up here, it’s just all about competing. It’s just me and the pitcher. It’s a battle up there. I love the war aspect of it, the mental side of it. And then at the end of the day, I’m looking to take his head off. Looking to win.”
