Josue De Paula could be an X-factor for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the postseason.

The 21-year-old rookie was an outstanding understudy for Shohei Ohtani while the reigning National League MVP was mired on the injured list in September. Promoted directly from Double-A, De Paula slashed .323/.500/.581 in 11 games, driving in seven runs on only 10 hits.

De Paula was optioned to the minors when Ohtani was activated from the injured list on Sept. 23, but his season was far from over.

The Dodgers assigned De Paula to Triple-A Oklahoma City to help the Comets for their playoff run. In his first two games, he reached base four times and scored two runs as the Comets beat the Las Vegas Aviators to help Oklahoma City win the Pacific Coast League championship.

De Paula then scored the go-ahead run in the Comets' 5-3 win over the Rochester Red Wings for the Triple-A championship game on Saturday.

For what it's worth, Dodgers vice president of player development Will Rhymes was in attendance.

"I saw [De Paula on Saturday] and said, man, all you've been doing the last couple weeks is celebrating, and you know popping champagne with the big club and then here," Rhymes said during MLB Network's broadcast of the game. "So he's had a pretty fun couple weeks. But we're so proud of him. Our whole [player development] group has been really invested in that, and watching him succeed has been rewarding."

Carving out a role for De Paula on the Dodgers' postseason roster isn't impossible. But it's hard to ignore the redundancy created by two left-handed hitters who can't play the field (Ohtani and Dalton Rushing, who is attempting to play through an elbow injury) and De Paula — a corner outfielder who the Dodgers would prefer to keep as a left-handed bat off the bench.

Only 26 players can make the Dodgers' roster for each postseason round. Teams can reset their roster after each round, so De Paula might make his way into the lineup even if he isn't active Saturday for the National League Division Series.

To that end, Rhymes knows quite well what De Paula brings to the table.

"He's so calm in the box," Rhymes said. "He's really confident. We always, since he was in our Dominican academy, said he just sees the ball earlier than anyone. He really does. It's sort of innate. He takes a lot of pride in that aspect of hitting."

Whether that's enough to force his way on to the Dodgers' NLDS roster remains to be seen.

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