Josue De Paula drawing Juan Soto comparisons hints Dodgers were right to bid low

Josue De Paula has cooled down a bit since his statement game against the Miami Marlins on September 13, but the Los Angeles Dodgers still have a lot to love about their No. 1 prospect. It took him 12 at-bats to suffer his first major league strikeout, and he's only struck out once more since then.

De Paula took his knowledge of the strike zone to another level during the Dodgers' latest series opener against the Cincinnati Reds. He got to a 2-2 count against Reds starter Nick Lodolo in the top of the fifth. Lodolo put a sinker low and away that home plate umpire Tom Hanahan called a ball.

Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson was quick to challenge, but at the same time, De Paula had gotten into a crouch and shook his head as if to say, "That one was definitely out of the zone."

De Paula was right, and the Reds lost their one remaining challenge. He went on to walk on the next pitch, and then steal second.

It wasn't quite a Soto shuffle, but it was close enough to draw comparisons. He responded, "Hey, I'm not mad about it."

Revisiting the Dodgers' Juan Soto pursuit as Josue De Paula draw comparisons

The Dodgers were involved in Juan Soto's free agent market in the 2024-25 offseason and went as far as to offer $600 million, which was, of course, eclipsed by the New York Mets' $765 million and even the New York Yankees' $760 million.

At least part of LA's hesitance to offer him a $700-plus million contract was rooted in keeping Shohei Ohtani atop the payroll and not supplanting their star player, but De Paula, though still a very distant eventuality, was on the horizon as well.

Soto and De Paula's prospect profiles are startlingly similar — 70-grade hit, 65 power, 50 run, arm, and field for Soto, and 65-grade hit, 60 power, 40 run and field, and 50 arm for De Paula. Both, as Paula has already put on display, have an advanced understanding of the strike zone.

The Dodgers don't plan well enough around their prospects to try to make a claim that they exited the Soto bidding because they had De Paula in the chamber, but it's certainly been a happy development that the one massive free agent the Dodgers didn't go all-in on happens to be reflected in their No. 1 prospect two years later.

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