Josue De Paula

In his full-season debut as an 18-year-old, De Paula showed that his hit tool has a chance to be special and that his outfield defense might be bad enough to relegate him to designated hitter duty. He hit .284 with a 17.9 percent strikeout rate and 13.5 percent walk rate as one of the youngest hitters at Single-A, and while he didn't tap into much power (.089 ISO, two HR in 74 games), De Paula's 6-foot-3 frame suggests he will develop at least above-average power long term. He is famously the cousin of former NBA player Stephon Marbury and grew up in New York before moving to the Dominican Republic so he could sign internationally in 2022. De Paula's poor defense means there will be a lot of pressure on him to develop into an impactful hitter, and while he stole 14 bases last year, he is only a fringe-average runner who figures to slow down even further as he fills out.

Part of why J-15 international signees have been devalued in dynasty is that there isn't enough good info on them when they sign, and every class has guys like De Paula who can be scooped off waivers after emerging in the Dominican Summer League. For instance, De Paula now has more dynasty value than Roderick Arias, who was listed by many outlets as the top teenager in the 2022 class. An interesting nugget on De Paula: he is the cousin of former NBA star Stephon Marbury and lived in Brooklyn, NY until he was 15, so he is bilingual. The 6-foot-3 lefty-hitting outfielder displayed excellent contact ability while making good swing decisions in the DSL en route to a .349/.448/.522 slash line with five home runs, 16 steals and more walks (32) than strikeouts (31) in 53 games. His hit tool is good enough that he should have success in his stateside debut, it's just a question of how much power comes. He could add muscle and fill out his frame and become a 20-plus homer star, or he could stay lean and be more of a leadoff type. On the flip side, De Paula is at least several years from the majors and the pitching in the DSL is pretty terrible, so he could hit an unforeseen wall at some point.