The Brooklyn roots behind Dodgers outfielder Josue De Paula
From Brooklyn asphalt and Coney Island hoops royalty to a Dominican academy and Chavez Ravine, Josue De Paula carved his own baseball path.
When I first traced Josue De Paula through the minor league box scores, one biographical fact leaped off the page. The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder was born in Brooklyn, surrounded by one of the most legendary basketball families in New York City history. His second cousins on his mother's side are Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, playground royalty who defined Coney Island hoops and reached the NBA. Yet De Paula never played competitive high school basketball. He chose baseball diamonds over asphalt courts, moving south to Santo Domingo at age 15 to pursue a professional dream that carried him directly to Dodger Stadium.
Josue De Paula at a Glance
- Born
- May 24, 2005 in Brooklyn, New York
- Position
- Outfielder (Bats: Left, Throws: Left)
- Signed
- January 15, 2022 as an international free agent ($397,500 bonus)
- Family athletic ties
- Second cousin to NBA guards Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair
- 2026 Double-A honors
- Texas League MVP (.303 AVG, 27 HR, 104 RBI, 31 SB)
- MLB debut
- September 11, 2026 with the Los Angeles Dodgers
Growing up beside basketball royalty in Brooklyn
New York City basketball culture runs deep, and few family trees carry more neighborhood renown than the Marbury and Telfair lineage. Stephon Marbury became an All-American at Abraham Lincoln High School before embarking on a celebrated NBA career with the Nets, Knicks, and Timberwolves. A generation later, Sebastian Telfair appeared on national magazine covers as a teenage point guard before being drafted directly into the NBA in 2004.
De Paula grew up in Brooklyn with an athletic 6-foot-3 frame that naturally prompted basketball questions from neighbors and friends. He loved sports. But his passion pulled him toward baseball fields rather than crowded city gymnasiums. As I reviewed his early youth athletic records, it became clear that baseball was never a secondary pastime for him. It was his singular focus from early childhood, even as family cousins achieved basketball stardom.
Moving to Santo Domingo during a global shutdown
The pivotal turning point in De Paula's baseball development arrived in 2020. When public recreation facilities across New York City closed during the pandemic, organized amateur baseball paused indefinitely. De Paula and his family made an audacious choice. Because his father held Dominican citizenship, De Paula relocated to Santo Domingo at age 15 to train full-time at the El Niche Baseball Academy.
Training in the Dominican Republic transformed his game. He faced elite teenage pitching every morning, refining his balance, pitch recognition, and left-handed swing path under Caribbean sunshine. Because he acquired Dominican citizenship by descent, he qualified to sign as an international amateur free agent rather than entering the domestic draft. On January 15, 2022, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed 16-year-old De Paula for a signing bonus of $397,500.
Rising through the Dodgers minor league ladder
De Paula made an immediate statement in the Dominican Summer League in 2022, batting .349 with an astonishing 32 walks against just 32 strikeouts in 53 games. That 1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio signaled an exceptionally disciplined hitter who refused to chase pitches outside the strike zone.
In 2023, the Dodgers assigned him to the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in the California League. At just 18 years old, he held his own against pitchers three to four years older, posting a .396 on-base percentage across 74 games. The following seasons brought steady progression through High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa, where his line-drive gap power began transforming into over-the-fence home run power.
| Season | Level & Team | Games | Batting Line | HR | SB | BB/K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | DSL Dodgers Bautista (Rookie) | 53 | .349 / .448 / .522 | 5 | 16 | 32 / 32 |
| 2023 | Rancho Cucamonga (Single-A) | 74 | .284 / .396 / .372 | 2 | 14 | 46 / 61 |
| 2024 | Rancho & Great Lakes (A/A+) | 107 | .268 / .374 / .412 | 10 | 27 | 63 / 94 |
| 2025 | Great Lakes & Tulsa (A+/AA) | 112 | .282 / .388 / .465 | 16 | 22 | 71 / 102 |
| 2026 | Tulsa Drillers (Double-A) | 124 | .303 / .401 / .547 | 27 | 31 | 84 / 110 |
The historic 2026 campaign in Double-A Tulsa
During the 2026 season with the Tulsa Drillers, De Paula put together one of the most dominant minor league campaigns in recent Dodgers history. Across 124 games in the Texas League, he led the circuit in hits with 152, runs scored with 106, and runs batted in with 104. He tied for the league lead with 37 doubles while launching 27 home runs and stealing 31 bases.
League managers and evaluators voted De Paula the 2026 Texas League Most Valuable Player. Baseball America simultaneously named him the Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year. We rarely see a 21-year-old outfielder combine a .401 on-base percentage with 27 homers and 31 steals in a pitcher-friendly Double-A league. His performance left the Dodgers front office with little reason to keep him in the minors.
Direct promotion to the majors and a memorable debut
When big league injuries created an opening on the Los Angeles roster in September 2026, the Dodgers bypassed Triple-A Oklahoma City entirely. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts promoted De Paula straight from Double-A to the major leagues.
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.
De Paula validated that organizational faith immediately. On September 11, 2026, he made his major league debut for the Dodgers and hammered a home run for his very first major league hit. That blast made him the youngest Dodgers hitter to homer since Adrian Beltre in 1998. The home run capped an extraordinary four-year odyssey from Brooklyn to Santo Domingo and finally to the bright lights of Chavez Ravine.
The enduring charm of choosing your own road
What makes De Paula's emergence so refreshing is the clarity of his personal ambition. In a family celebrated across New York for crossover dribbles and buzzer-beating jumpers, De Paula spent his formative years studying the strike zone and perfecting a level left-handed swing. His success reminds us that athletic greatness is not merely an inheritance. It is a choice nurtured through discipline, patience, and courage.
From Brooklyn sandlots to Santo Domingo academies and the Texas League MVP trophy, Josue De Paula wrote his own distinct chapter in sports history. As he settles into the Dodgers outfield rotation, baseball fans everywhere can appreciate the joyful journey of a young hitter who trusted his unique path.
Sources
Every factual claim above traces to one of these. Links open in a new tab.
- Josue De Paula Prospect Profile and Scouting Report
- Dodgers Promote Top Prospect Josue De Paula to Big Leagues
- Josue De Paula Register Statistics & History
- Los Angeles Dodgers 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year: Josue De Paula
- Josue De Paula Named 2026 Texas League Most Valuable Player
- Dodgers Prospect Josue De Paula Named Texas League MVP
- Dodgers Prospect Josue De Paula Draws Yordan Alvarez Comparisons
