Dodgers Prospect Vaults to No. 12 in MLB in Revised ESPN Rankings

National League outfielder Josue De Paula (46) of the Los Angeles Dodgers scores a run during the sixth inning against American League at Truist Park on July 12. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It's been a good week for Dodgers prospect Josue De Paula.

Saturday, he was activated from the injured list by the Great Lakes Loons after missing the better part of seven weeks with the Dodgers' Class-A affiliate.

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Wednesday, De Paula learned he was the No. 12 prospect in all of baseball according to the updated Top 100 rankings by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel.

The 20-year-old outfielder was a consensus Top 50 prospect coming into this season. MLB Pipeline ranked him at No. 40. Baseball America ranked him at No. 47. Baseball Prospectus was higher on De Paula than both outlets, placing him at No. 9 in its preseason rankings.

These and other outlets updated their rankings at midseason after the amateur draft in July, and after many of the preseason top prospects — including consensus No. 1 Roman Anthony — were promoted to MLB.

De Paula found himself promoted to No. 12 on FanGraphs' "The Board" as well as MLB Pipeline's midseason rankings. Now McDaniel has seen the light, too.

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De Paula ranked in McDaniel's 60 Future Value tier (on the traditional 20-to-80 scouting scale). He did not assign any player a Future Value higher than that. Besides the Top 11 prospects, only Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler (who debuts Friday) also ranked in McDaniel's 60 FV tier.

"I can't shake the comp a scout gave me on De Paula a few years ago: Yordan Alvarez," he writes. "De Paula is a better runner and defender — he's fine in left field — than the Astros slugger, but I don't think he'll be quite as elite at the plate. That said, De Paula should post plus on-base percentages buoyed by big walk rates and should grow into 25-30 homer seasons as he taps into his power."

De paula has a .258 batting average .403 on-base percentage, and 10 home runs in 84 games this season with Great Lakes.

His .409 slugging percentage across four minor league seasons doesn't scream "future cleanup hitter," but all the major prospect evaluators seem to believe there are more home runs in De Paula's bat.

After De Paula, McDaniel also ranked six more Dodgers prospects in his updated Top 100: outfielder Eduardo Quintero (44), Zyhir Hope (46), Mike Sirota (56), Alex Freeland (73), Emil Morales (85), and Jackson Ferris (99).

Rounding out McDaniel's organizational Top 10 are pitcher River Ryan, outfielder James Tibbs III and shortstop Kellon Lindsay. Roki Sasaki, Dalton Rushing and Justin Wrobleski graduated from McDaniel's prospect rankings.

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