Josue De Paula's veteran mentor puts a finer point on Dodgers' belief in him

Josue De Paula has been the Los Angeles Dodgers' one true untouchable for a little while now. When the front office went out and traded for Tarik Skubal at the deadline, De Paula's name never likely entered the conversation, even as Zyhir Hope, River Ryan, and Brady Smith were shipped off to Detroit.

That should give a strong indication of where he sits in this organization's plans. But the clearer signal might be who the Dodgers have quietly assigned to work with him on the back fields in Tulsa this year.

That's Jason Heyward, brought on as a special assistant in player development after retiring this spring, and specifically tasked with sharpening De Paula's defense. When a team hands a 21-year-old talent — in his first-full-season at Double-A, this kind of individualized attention from a five-time Gold Glove winner — that's not a courtesy. That's an organization putting its money and its people exactly where its belief is.

Jason Heyward's mentorship could help reshape the Dodgers' top prospect

Heyward was the 14th overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft out of Henry County High School in Georgia, taken by the Atlanta Braves in the same draft class as his close friend Freddie Freeman, Atlanta's first two picks that year.

Both debuted in the majors in 2010, and both went on to have decorated careers. Heyward hit .255 with 186 home runs over 16 seasons, won five Gold Gloves, and even made an All-Star team as a rookie.

And one more important accolade: while it wasn't with LA, Heyward has, in fact, won a World Series. He was a central figure on the 2016 Chicago Cubs team that broke a 108-year curse, and he's the one who delivered the rain-delay speech in Game 7 that teammates credited with sparking the comeback. This isn't some guy who fell short of the mountaintop trying to coach someone else up it. He's already been there.

That should be a major piece to this mentorship. Heyward isn't just teaching De Paula outfield footwork and how to attack different angles out there, even if that's the literal day-to-day work. He's the version of what De Paula could become if everything breaks right: a superstar-caliber prospect who turned that talent into a long, respected career, real financial security, true leadership and a championship ring.

Nobody's saying De Paula's game will look like Heyward's, or that his path has to mirror Freeman's. The comp isn't about tools. It's about the ceiling, which included the contracts, the awards, the parades, that both of those 2007 draftees eventually reached.

De Paula, for his part, keeps making that investment look smart. He's hitting .303 with 26 home runs, 100 RBI, 29 stolen bases and 75 walks (with only 81 strikeouts) at Double-A Tulsa this season, a line that's put him among an exclusive group of Dodgers farmhands to reach 100-plus in both runs and RBI the same year.

The bat has never been the question, although the power surge is a really nice addition this year. If Heyward's fingerprints show up on the glove the way the front office is hoping, there won't be much left standing between De Paula and Los Angeles, and maybe even the top prospect in baseball.

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