Josue De Paula’s monster HR validates Dodgers trade decision but sends another message

Josue De Paula's first two major league games were quiet. He went 0-for-5 with three walks during the first two games of the Los Angeles Dodgers weekend series against the Miami Marlins. The plate discipline was nice, sure — he refused to strike out — but fans were waiting to see some of the prodigious power he made his name on in the minors.

In the series finale Sunday night, he walked in his first at-bat but wasn't waiting around during his second, with two men on base. Marlins starter Eury Pérez threw a 98 mph fastball a little low and in, and De Paula turned on it, sending it 416 feet to the second deck of loanDepot park.

He went on to hit a two-out double that looked like it had the chance to leave the park again. De Paula was replaced by Kiké Hernández in the sixth, presumably for defensive purposes, and the Dodgers went on to lose thanks to a blown save by Tanner Scott and a four-run bottom of the ninth rally from the Marlins.

As frustrating as it is that the Dodgers blew that game, it was a statement for De Paula. LA's No. 1 prospect has well and truly arrived.

Josue De Paula's debut Dodgers series should send a message to Andrew Friedman

At the trade deadline, De Paula was thought to be just about as untouchable as a Dodgers prospect could be, but it wasn't clear if he would factor into the team's September plans. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had never let a prospect skip Triple-A in his tenure with the Dodgers.

But, as Dodgers fans know all too well, Friedman has a particular way of doing things with his prospects. The Dodgers usually develop them well enough to ship them off when the time is right, but building rosters chock full of free agents on long-term deals don't leave much room for the rare homegrown players they want to keep.

When Shohei Ohtani comes back, where does that leave De Paula? With Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker in the outfield corners next season, how do they give their No. 1 prospect real runway?

No one would ever call Friedman a poor planner, but the way the Dodgers handle their prospects is probably his greatest weakness as a brilliant baseball mind. De Paula's arrival should send a message: when you're as sure about a player as the Dodgers have been about their top prospect, make sure they actually have an opportunity to thrive.

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