José Paula

José Andres Gregorio Paula

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

• School Arizona Western College

• Born April 18, 1999 in Fort-de-France, Martinique France

BR register page

Biographical Information

José Paula has played in the minor leagues and France and for the French national team.

Born in Martinique to a French mother and a Venezuelan father (a basketball player), he grew up mostly in Venezuela but also spending time in France and the Dominican Republic. The Oakland A's signed him; it is unclear if he was the first player or not born in Martinique.

He hit .224/.375/.224 for the 2016 DSL Athletics, mostly playing left field and fielding .967. In a similar role the next year, he again batted .224, with a similar OBP (.372) and slightly higher slugging (.250). That ended his minor league career. He represented France in a 2018 tournament with South Africa. He debuted in French Division I that summer, as a stellar top-of-the-order threat for the champion Rouen Huskies. He hit .400/.490/.550 with 23 runs and 16 RBI in 23 games, stealing 11 bases in 15 tries. He was among the league leaders in average (2nd, .022 behind Ariel Soriano), slugging (5th, between Conor Lourey and Jacques Boucheron), OBP (4th, between Gerwuins Velazco and Soriano), runs (tied for 4th), hits (32, tied Alexander Perdomo for 6th), triples (3, tied for 1st), total bases (44, tied Mael Zan for 6th) and steals (5th).

Paula played for France in the 2019 European Championship. He singled off Spain's Carlos Sierra his first at-bat in the Euros. He hit .278/.316/.333 with 3 runs and 2 RBI in 5 games, with one error in nine chances in the field. He also pitched once, relieving Yoann Vaugelade to close out France's 23-0, 5-inning mercy rule demolition of Croatia. He got Damjan Zlatarek and Ante Ćurković on grounders then struck out Viktor Belin to end it. He then enrolled in Arizona Western College but the 2020 season was wiped out by COVID-19.

Returning to action in 2021 with the Templiers de Sénart, he was 2 for 7 with a run in the 2021 CEB Cup as a part-time outfielder. As a pitcher, he teamed with Tanguy Meurant and Clifford Heberden on a three-hitter against the Therwil Flyers. He got the win over the Dornbirn Indians despite 4 runs in 2 1/3 IP. In the 2021 U-23 European Championship, he hit .429/.529/.786 for France and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in 2 2/3 IP. He tied for the event lead with 3 doubles, was in the top 10 in slugging and OPS and was 3rd with 3 steals (behind Marek Chlup and Zan) but was caught twice.

Shortly after that, he was with France for the 2021 European Championship, playing mostly DH and pitcher. He had an interesting pitching line versus Russia (5 BB, 5 K, 0 H, 0 R in 2 IP). Against Greece, he relieved Franklin De La Rosa with two outs in the 9th, one on and a 3-3 tie and struck out Dimitri Lettas to end the inning. In the 10th, Greece started with two men aboard due to the WBSC extra-inning rules. George Tsiflikiotis reached on a fielder's choice on a bunt but Paula fanned Max Warren. Alejandro Torres-Skerrett hit a sacrifice fly and Tom Roulis singled in a run but Paula struck out Dimitri Kourtis to end the inning; France tied it with two of their own in the bottom of the inning. In the 11th, Ari Sechopoulos hit into a force, then Nick Halamandaris hit a sacrifice fly, but France doubled up Sechopoulos. They again tied it in the bottom of the inning. Finally, in the 12th, Paula had a rough time. Antonio Torres-Skerrett doubled in a run. José struck out Lettas, then Tsiflikiotis singled and an error on the play put it at 9-6. Quentin Moulin relieved and let the inherited run score; France wound up losing, 12-9, Paula getting the decision. In the 15th/16th place game, he came up big in the 8th inning, tripling off Slovakia's Martin Gieci and scoring the tying run to make it 4-4. As one of the starting runners in the 10th, he scored on a Bastien Dagneau hit to put France ahead; they won, 6-5. He finished with odd lines at the plate (.143/.357/.294, 5 R, 2 H in 5 G) and on the hill (0-1, 3.60, 5 BB, 3 H, 9 K in 5 IP). He was second on France in strikeouts (4 behind Owen Ozanich) and walks issued (2 behind Esteban Prioul) and led the team in runs scored (one ahead of Martin Vissac).

In the 2021 French regular season, his offensive numbers were poor (.217/.400/.304, 11 R, 13 BB in 14 G) compared to his 2018 campaign. He was 1-1 with two saves, a 4.15 ERA and 19 K in 14 IP. He tied for 4th in saves.