JDP Hits Double and HR on his way to LAD (in Miami)
Hello, I am Mark! This is Jeff's post, but you know I was going to weigh in after several commenters informed me how the Dodgers were not going to call up Josue DePaula and I was dumb for saying that. Mor on that later! They can just put those two words which started the last sentence together!
MLBTR has this:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/los-angeles-dodgers
The Dodgers have to drop someone off the active roster.... I'll be in Dayton tonight covering the Loons. Take it away, Jeff!
OKC Comets 8 – Sugar Land Space Cowboys 6
OKC continues to roll. They have now won 11 in row. OKC extended its PCL second half lead and is now 2.0 games ahead of second-place Sugar Land with 10 games remaining in the regular season…The Comets are now a season-best 25 games above .500.
RHSP Gavin Stone started for OKC. He was not able to get out of the 1st inning. He threw 32 pitches, 15 for strikes in 0.2 IP. Stone struck out the first batter he faced, walked the next two, and then a 3-run HR. He faced two more batters: a strikeout and a single. RHRP Chris Campos relieved Stone.
OKC tied it up in the bottom of the first. With 1 out, RF James Tibbs III and LF Ryan Ward walked. With 2 outs, 1B Matt Gorski and SS Noah Miller both walked bringing in a run. 2B Austin Gauthier singled to score two more to tie the game.
With Campos back on the bump, he allowed a solo HR in the 2nd. He also struck out the side.
In the bottom of the 2nd, C Ben Rortvedt, DH Zach Ehrhard, and JTIII each singled to load the bases. After one out, 3B Ryan Fitzgerald hit a bases clearing double (32), and a 6-4 lead.
RHRP Edwin Díaz entered in the 3rd. He walked the first batter, struck out the 2nd, and walked the 3rd batter. A WP put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. A groundout brought home one run. LHRP Kris Bubic relieved Díaz and struck out the one batter he faced to end the inning.
OKC picked up a pair in the 6th. Rortvedt led off with a single. With one out, JTIII and Ward walked to load the bases. Rortvedt scored on SF from Fitzgerald with JTIII to 3rd. JTIII scored on a WP.
LHP Jackson Ferris figured to be the bulk pitcher tonight, finished the game for Oklahoma City in relief, tossing 6.0 innings with one run, two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts for his first professional save. He retired a stretch of 11 straight batters from the fourth through seventh innings. Ferris matched an Oklahoma City high for strikeouts by a reliever this season, matching his own total Aug. 8 at Salt Lake. Over his last five games, Ferris has allowed four runs in 28.1 innings with 35 strikeouts.
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· Ryan Ward – 2-3, 2 BB, 1 run
· Austin Gauthier – 2-3, 2 RBI
· Ben Rortvedt – 2-4, 2 runs
· Doubles – Ryan Fitzgerald (32), Noah Miller (20)
Tulsa Drillers 10 – NW Arkansas (KC) 1
Tulsa got on the board with the 2nd hitter of the game. LF Josue De Paula slugged his 27th HR of the season. This was the first of four HR for the Texas League HR leader.
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RHSP Aidan Foeller made his sixth start on the mound since joining the Drillers and worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out two. His Double-A ERA is now 1.57 in 28 2/3 innings pitched.
In the 1st, a 2 out single and double tied the score.
In the 4th, C Griffin Lockwood-Powell hit a one out single. 3B Logan Wagner followed with a 2-run HR (5).
UDFA LHRP Alex Walsh picked up Foeller with 1 out in the 3rd. Walsh was brilliant for his 2.2 IP. He did not allow a baserunner and got 3 outs.
LHRP Christian Suarez followed Walsh. While Suarez was not as dominant as Walsh, he was still effective. Suarez allowed a hit and BB with 2 K over his 2.0 IP.
In the 7th, with 2 outs, SS Sean McLain hit his 7th HR. RF Jose Izarra singled. He stole 2nd and continued to 3rd on a throwing error. 2B Taylor Young hit an infield single to score Izarra. Taylor scored on JDP’s double (37).
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In the 8th, Wagner hit his 2nd HR of the game, 6th of the season.
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IN the 9th, McLain, Izarra, Young, and JDP each walked. One run scored and the bases loaded. 1B Jake Gelof then hit a 2-run double (23).
RHRP Jacob Kmatz closed it out by retiring all six batters he faced in two scoreless innings. Kmatz now has a 1.53 ERA in 12 games with the Drillers and a 23:2 strikeout to walk ratio.
· Josue De Paula – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, double (37), HR (27)
· Logan Wagner – 3-5, 2 runs, 3 RBI, double (4), 2 HR (6)
· Sean McLain – 1-3, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, HR (7)
· Jake Gelof – 1-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, double (23)
JDP now has 104 RBI and 106 runs scored this season. It is the third most runs scored in the 49-season history of the Drillers franchise and tied for the third most RBI.
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Discussion (68)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Congrats on the new site format Mark! Takes some getting used to, but definitely an improvement. Long time reader, but rarely post.
I find the Jose De Paula promotion intriguing. MLB.com has him ranked as the 6th overall prospect and shares a comp with Yordan Alvarez "thanks to his precocious combination of swing decisions and exit velocities." De Paula was the Futures Game MVP. While he has below average speed, he has drawn Juan Soto type comp over his plate discipline and comfort working counts. What's not to like!
I am excited to see what the future holds for this prospect. Pardon the cliche, after all, all prospects are suspects until they ain't.
Go Dodgers!
Baseball America article on DePaula:
Open on www.baseballamerica.comhttps://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/josue-de-paula-has-kevin-mcgonigle-like-hitting-traits/Thursday’s Dodger Affiliates' Schedule 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) at Dayton (Kyle McCoy) - Division Series (GL up 1-0) 4:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (TBD) vs. Sugar Land (Brandon McPherson) 5:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa (TBD) at NW Arkansas (Grant Grambell) 6:05 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Lake Elsinore (Kruz Schoolcraft) - Division Series (ONT down 1-0)
I wanted to see JDP or even Ward called up Sept 1 to provide a little power off the bench. Feduccia, Freeland, Kike and even Tucker haven't shown a power bat off the bench. Even Miggy can hit one out but he is looked in that platoon. with Freeland. JDP looks to have some pop and he can get some looks as a DH with Ohtani out for a while. Nice to see the move, however I wanted it Sept 1.
I just found out a good friend and excellent musician Leo J Eifert Jr. passed away two days ago. He was getting ready to play a gig in Apple Valley and got a bloody nose that would not stop. He drove himself to the emergency room and passed away while in the hospitals care. Leo turned 80 in January. He played music all over and traveled with Toby Keith at one point in his long music journey. RIP my friend. Your music will be missed.
So much interesting stuff in this one Dave Roberts blurb via Ardaya:
De Paula’s bat has felt big-league ready for quite some time. The Dodgers have raved about his confidence level. That’s what it took to pull the trigger on De Paula’s planned debut Friday.
“Our player development group is very confident in his ability to conduct an at-bat,” Roberts said. “You could argue that the talent in Double A is similar to Triple A, as far as pure arms and arm talent. I think that we’ve seen him in camp for two or three years. He doesn’t run from velocity. He controls the strike zone. And I think this is just a good opportunity for him to kind of cut his teeth in the big leagues.”
The Dodgers just swept the nationals and the reds. No negativity here just a fact . Neither team is loaded with pitching. Although the reds still have Burns who was shoving it up the boys in blue’s butts when they took him out. But it was sweet to see them smack the reds starter around last night. He of a 5.4 era. Those are the guys they usually have trouble with!! The bats seem to have risen from the dead , at least for the present. But that Miami team can pitch and are competent on offense. Then they head back to Cincinnati for 4. So no, it won’t be an easy road trip. 5 & 2? Yes! On the bright side, the starting pitchers have been fantastic. Yamamoto may not win the cy young award, but if he did, he would damn sure deserve it! The bullpen? Still don’t trust Trienan . But I’m sure they do. Halverson looks like a project worth hanging on to. 102 doesn’t grow on trees, does it?
AI:
De Paula can still make the postseason roster if Ohtani comes back, but Ohtani’s IL stint would no longer be the mechanism that gets him there.
Today’s move is a regular-season transaction: Ohtani goes on the 15-day IL and Josue De Paula is being added to the Dodgers’ 40-man and active roster. De Paula was not on the 40-man before September 1, so this call-up does not retroactively make him automatically postseason-eligible.
For October, the Dodgers would have to use the Rule 40 injury-replacement exception. MLB says a player who was not on the 40-man before September 1 may be placed on a postseason roster if he was in the organization by August 31 and the Commissioner’s Office approves him as the replacement for a qualifying injured player. De Paula clearly satisfies the first requirement because he was playing for Tulsa.
So imagine this sequence:
September 10: Ohtani → IL De Paula → Dodgers
September 23: Ohtani → activated De Paula → perhaps remains with Dodgers or is optioned
October: Ohtani → postseason roster De Paula → can ALSO be on the postseason roster, provided the Dodgers have another qualifying injured player whom De Paula can replace and MLB approves the petition.
What they cannot do is say, "De Paula replaced Ohtani on September 10, therefore he's postseason eligible forever." That's not how Rule 40 works. The injury replacement is evaluated in connection with the postseason series roster. The rule allows the Commissioner, before a series, to permit a club to name an organizational player to that series roster "in order to replace an injured Major League player."
And here's the part that makes this particularly interesting for the Dodgers:
De Paula does NOT necessarily need Ohtani to remain hurt.
If the Dodgers have another qualifying injured player when they submit their NLDS roster, that player could provide the opening for De Paula.
So you could theoretically have:
Ohtani ✅ De Paula ✅
on the same 26-man NLDS roster.
The Dodgers just need another legitimate injury-replacement case for De Paula.
And given the Dodgers' rather crowded medical ward, that is hardly an exotic possibility. 😏
Bottom line: Ohtani returning does not automatically knock De Paula out of postseason consideration. It merely means Ohtani can no longer be the injured player used to justify De Paula's special postseason eligibility. The Dodgers would need another qualifying injured player.
When I am wrong, I admit it and I was wrong about them calling up JDP. He will get a 15-day looksee. I hope the kid does well. I also feel that Ohtani should have let the Dodgers know immediately when he felt pain in that arm the other day. Nice win last night. Betts is looking like Mookie again, Muncy with his first homer in a few days. Tucker even looked like a different player. Teo's at bats have been most impressive.
Kind of felt the same way when the Dodgers DFA Alec Thomas. For the record I’m glad they signed him to a minor league contract. Sirota seems to have a hard time staying healthy. Hopefully its just happenstance the last two years.
Well since Mark is puffing his chest out, I mean stomach. Relax it's just humor. I will puff mine out to. I was one of the few to agree with him. Even after the Sept. 1st call ups, I posted that they should give Shohei a blow on the IL and call up JDP. I will also crow, as should Matt, for never getting down during the Dodger slump. I never called them pathetic and have always remained positive. An infusion of youth. I guess Andrew reads your blog Mark. I hope The Show isn't to big for Joshue. Let's finish this! Book em
I wonder if Jacob Kmatz could be added to the bullpen churn. He's been playing great.
BTW: You are going to start seeing this version of Shohei Ohtani... a lot! Father Time gets us all!
OK. Raise your hand if you didn’t believe the Boys in Blue would find the proverbial playoff switch and turn it on! I think even Tucker may have found it! My hand is raised! Can’t wait to see JDP tonight. I’d settle for Alvarez light.
Jackson Ferris seems to have figured something out the last month, as his stats look great! Keep it up!
Can't wait to see JDP in the lineup and see how his swing plays.
It was great to see Kyle Tucker get 3 hits last night. This is the absolutely perfect time for him to start waking up, and carry it on for the next 7-8 weeks.
I'm glad the team gets a break today, so we can watch the Rams begin what hopes to be a fantastic season! Combine that with the Kings starting training camp in 2 weeks, and the Lakers starting training camp in 3 weeks, the sports world will be in full swing again.
Well, the Dodgers finally wised up and called up Josue DePaula... as I predicted they should. I am not going to name names, but you know who you are. I just don't respond well to condensention! I'll leave it at that.
I don't know if they will play him in RF or LF. He does have 37 games this year in RF, but I think he is better suited for LF. I am sure Jason Heyward will greet him at the gate. He's not a great fielder... yet! But he has shown the ability to adjust and he's not as horrible as some say. He's up to play and he can hit his way onto the playoff roster! Maybe DH? Shohei may go on the IL. Could Ohtani play OF in the playoffs IF Josue hits?