The Los Angeles Dodgers are coming off a 4-1 victory on Monday night over the Cincinnati Reds in their series opener.
L.A. is currently battling a few injuries, most notably to Shohei Ohtani, and even Freddie Freeman seems to be dealing with some right knee tendinitis, which has led him to miss some games over the last week, including Monday’s.
However, Freeman is back in the lineup for Game 2 of the series, and outside of that, manager Dave Roberts decided to make a sudden yet notable lineup change involving top prospect Josue De Paula, who was called up to the majors late last week.
Dodgers Announce Sudden De Paula Decision
Appearing in four games so far, De Paula has spent the bulk of his time in the backend of the batting order.
In fact, he hit in the nine hole on Monday and was slotted as the designated hitter.
However, while he’ll remain the DH on Tuesday, Roberts has decided to suddenly move him up to the leadoff spot, batting in front of Freeman, who will hit in the two hole.
Here’s the full Dodgers lineup:
Via Underdog MLB: “Dodgers 9/15 J. De Paula DH F. Freeman 1B M. Betts SS K. Tucker RF T. Hernández LF M. Muncy 3B T. Edman CF H. Feduccia C A. Freeland 2B Y. Yamamoto SP.”
Dodgers 9/15
J. De Paula DH
F. Freeman 1B
M. Betts SS
K. Tucker RF
T. Hernández LF
M. Muncy 3B
T. Edman CF
H. Feduccia C
A. Freeland 2BY. Yamamoto SP
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) September 15, 2026
De Paula’s 2026 Season
De Paula has recorded two hits in his first nine at-bats, including a double and a home run.
However, he comes in as the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, so there are high expectations for what he could bring to this Dodgers team as the postseason nears.
In the minors this season, he batted .303 across 501 at-bats, where he managed to hit 27 home runs with 104 RBIs and 31 stolen bases while maintaining an OPS of .948.
Los Angeles Dodgers Make Sudden Josue De Paula Decision During Reds Series