In my Sebastian Walcott fantasy post I mentioned something that is applicable now. I reach out to a bunch of people for their top prospects for 2027 fantasy baseball, because I need all the help I can get with prospects. The fun part for me is learning new guys, because I don’t know minor leaguers. Information is all readily available so it’s easy to get up to snuff on the data. Seek it (rookie information) and you will find it, young prematurely balding man and six lady readers who love those men. With that said, I reached out to Itch first, and I take his word as bond. I said the other day, I want to give you the top rookies for 2027 redraft leagues in order. Sebastian Walcott was not Itch’s top choice. I felt a little like I was cheating on him by going against him for his top guy. Do Itch and I need couples counseling? Will Itch have me in the cuck chair at the therapist’s office? Why does the therapist have a cuck chair? Do cuck chairs come in anything but velvet because I have a real problem with velvet? I have a velvet-phobia. I feel like that’s the kind of thing I should’ve revealed years ago. So, who was Itch’s top prospect for redraft leagues that he told me to write-up first? You’re never going to believe this, it was Josue De Paula. Oh, you did guess it because I’m talking about it in his rookie outlook post? Yeah, that makes sense, actually. So, what can we expect from Josue De Paula for 2027 fantasy baseball?
There’s so many things to love about Josue De Paula. Feast your peepers on this doode:
Josue De Paula mashes his third homer in the past four games for the Double-A @TulsaDrillers ⚡️
MLB’s No. 6 prospect leads the @Dodgers system in dingers (7) and slugging percentage (.768) in August: https://t.co/IBFwOBjwgO
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 21, 2026
There’s so many of these clips:
Josue De Paula hammers his 25th homer of the season!
MLB’s No. 6 prospect (@Dodgers) has three hits today to up his @TulsaDrillers average to .315. https://t.co/SdqTBPCs0C
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 23, 2026
Here’s one more:
Josue De Paula swats his fifth homer in the past nine games for the Double-A @TulsaDrillers 🔥
MLB’s No. 6 prospect (@Dodgers) is slugging .714 with 22 RBIs in August: https://t.co/0UO2sNznHk
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 27, 2026
This was from one week this year! Josue De Paula is nuts. I see why Itch loves him. In that great Dodgers’ system that seems to produce wonderful every year, Josue De Paula was The Guy this year. (James Tibbs III might’ve been The Guy II. So, III was II? Hmm…) De Paula went 27/31/.303 in 501 ABs in Double-A as a 21-year-old. He reminds me of a young Darryl Strawberry. Call him Darryl Budding. (The funny thing with comps is if I look at a guy and think, “He looks like a young Darryl Strawberry,” by the time I’m looking at him, thirty other people have said the same thing. I’m saying lots of people have said this, but it’s also pretty obvious and I’m just covering him now and let’s get out of this parenthetical, shall we?)
So, I love Josue De Paula; you should love him; Itch loves him, but why didn’t I like him enough to make him my first rookie? He’s a butcher in left. I don’t care about defense for fantasy unless it affects a guy’s playing time, and this guy can’t play left every day. If the Dodgers didn’t have Teoscar and committed to De Paula, then I’d say they should be committed for playing this guy in the field, but giddy up and I’d move Josue De Paula above my other redraft rookies. Darryl Budding can win the Rookie of the Year, but not with that glove. Don’t get me wrong, Teoscar is awful in the field too, but he’s a vet with a contract. You really think the Dodgers are just abandoning Teoscar for good? Tucker? Ohtani’s got DH locked up so there’s nowhere to move any of these guys. Josue De Paula gets 550 ABs in 2027 and he’s going to be one of the best rookies we’ve seen in some time. His bat is a beaut. I just don’t think Budding plays everyday. He has immense upside but much more downside without an injury to Teoscar or Tucker, as in he might get less than 400 ABs this year. Still, of course, his bat plays so he’s worth drafting in all redraft leagues, because now’s “I can’t see this guy getting enough at-bats” can become tomorrow’s “he’s getting the at-bats and he can hit better than everyone in the Dodgers’ lineup, besides Ohtani.” For 2027, I’ll give Josue De Paula projections of 54/20/51/.264/15 in 421 ABs with a chance for much more and less.
