‘It’s like a movie:’ Josue De Paula embraces spotlight in Los Angeles

When the Los Angeles Dodgers were in Cincinnati on the second leg of their most recent road trip, manager Dave Roberts approached Josue De Paula.

"Just wait until we get back to LA," he recalled Roberts telling him. "It's different."

Sure enough, the raucous 48,000 fans — a light crowd by Dodger Stadium standards — packed inside Chavez Ravine for his home debut on Friday, Sept. 18 surpassed whatever the rookie's expectations were. Everything, from the environment to the deafening cheers that only seemed to grow louder as the Dodgers slugged their way to an 8-2 win over the hated rival San Francisco Giants, to the air itself, felt different.

"It's like a movie, man," De Paula told USA TODAY Sports.

De Paula, 21, has played his role perfectly through his first week in the big leagues.

The No. 6 prospect in baseball carries himself with a confidence that's rarely seen in someone as young as him. He's played in only eight games since being called up straight from Double-A Tulsa after Shohei Ohtani was placed on the injured list, or "just thrown into it" as he put it, but De Paula has relied on the skillset that got him…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/