In an unprecedented move in the Andrew Friedman era, the Los Angeles Dodgers called up a position player directly from Double-A earlier this month: Josue De Paula.
De Paula is not a good defender, but his bat is off the charts. He has a great eye at the plate and dominated in Double-A. Still, the big leagues are a whole different thing. That has not seemed to bother De Paula, who has a 1.081 OPS in 11 games with 11 walks and just five strikeouts.
De Paula has gotten to serve as the designated hitter with Shohei Ohtani out, but that's about to change. His defense is not good enough to start in left field, and the Dodgers are not going to start him over Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernández or Kyle Tucker right now. However, he would still be a very valuable bat for the postseason, with the ability to get on base at a high clip.
There's one big problem, however. He was not on the 40-man roster on Sept. 1, which is the eligibility cutoff for the postseason. The Dodgers can still legally get De Paula on a postseason roster, but will need to petition the commissioner's office.
"A player who doesn't meet said criteria for postseason eligibility can still be added to a team's roster in the postseason via petition to the Commissioner's Office if the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing someone who is on the injured list and has served the minimum amount of time required for activation," read Major League Baseball's rules for postseason eligibility. "(For example, a player on the 10-day injured list who has been on it for at least 10 days, or a player who has been on the 60-day injured list for at least 60 days.) Players who are acquired in September or after are ineligible."
De Paula is good on the first need, but the Dodgers would have to say he's replacing Dalton Rushing, who is the only current Dodger who has exceeded a minimum stay on the injured list. This would make sense, as Rushing may not be able to catch anyway and would be used as a pinch hitter. De Paula can fill that role.