Josue De Paula or Dalton Rushing? Dodgers Weighing Difficult Postseason Decision

The two-time defending champions may have a critical decision to make ahead of October.

Sep 22, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Josue De Paula (95) triples during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to do what no Major League Baseball team has done in the last quarter-century and win three consecutive championships.

Despite all the talent on the roster, each name on the 26-man roster come postseason will have more importance than the next. Even someone like Miguel Rojas — who was hitless for a calendar month heading into the World Series — can come up big in perhaps the biggest moment in the history of the sport.

All of this not only boils down to how the two-time defending champions will perform, but who manager Dave Roberts names on the final rendition of the postseason rosters. As entertaining as the impending decision will be for onlookers of the baseball world, the skipper knows the importance of his roster choice as well as anyone.

Josue De Paula and Dalton Rushing appear to be fighting for the same thing come October, but De Paula is still a raw product and Rushing is still on the injured list with elbow discomfort.

“It’s going to be a good debate,” manager Dave Roberts said on Tuesday.

De Paula, the 21-year-old rookie from Brooklyn, NY, put up undeniable numbers in Double-A this season, leading to the outfielder's promotion before registering a single Triple-A at-bat. In his first 11 games in the big leagues, he's hitting .323/.500/.581 with a 1.081 OPS.

Rushing, on the other hand, has plenty more big league experience than De Paula since his promotion last May. Before his first IL stint, Rushing was hitting .253 with an OPS of .809 this season.

The reason for his stint on the shelf was due to a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament. After he returned for just four hitless games, he once again hit the injured list, but this time, MRIs gave reason to believe that the flexor tendon was the real issue, something that could potentially be addressed without surgery and assisted through platelet-rich plasma injections.

For either player, this will be an uphill battle. Roberts admitted that for Rushing specifically, it may be just a steeper incline.

“Hitting off the bench is very difficult and so you're just trying to figure out who gives us the best chance," Roberts said. “To be quite frank, it’s going to be tougher for Dalton given the time that he’s missed, and to kind of think that you have three games to get back in the playoff form, which is tough to do. It’s not a knock on him. He’s been great for us. but it’s still tough given that also you’re talking about the consistency of at-bats recently from Josue.

“We have to have those conversations and make a decision.”

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