Andy Pages’ thunderous bat turned heads this spring. And now, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ prized outfield prospect is poised to bring things to Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers are set to call up Pages, a league source confirmed to The Athletic, continuing the 23-year-old’s rapid rise less than a year removed from undergoing major shoulder surgery.
Few players in Los Angeles’ camp turned heads quite like Pages, whose combination of power at the plate and efficient defense in center and right field led to unsolicited praise from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts — who said Pages would be a big leaguer by year’s end. That time is now here.
Pages has long been seen as one of the top young sluggers in the sport, cracking Keith Law’s top-100 prospects ahead of the 2023 season (at No. 67) and slugging his way into Triple A by May. He then suffered a torn labrum on a swing in his first game with Oklahoma City. After surgery, Los Angeles placed guardrails on Pages in camp that he quickly busted through.
In 73 plate appearances in Triple A to start this season, Pages has hit .371/452/.694 with five home runs, a staggering line that exemplified the type of significant offensive upside the Dodgers had dreamt of. It also reaffirmed his breakout this spring was no mirage, and that his power had fully rebounded after major surgery.
“That,” Pages said this spring in Spanish, “will always be there.”
The bottom of Los Angeles’ order has floundered to start the season, as its seventh through ninth spots in the order have combined to hit .162 — fourth worst in the sport — with a 30 wRC+ that ranks second-worst in the majors.
Plugging in Pages could help provide a spark, particularly as Jason Heyward’s absence drags on due to lingering back soreness. Roberts said Tuesday the 34-year-old outfielder is still feeling some discomfort in the area, and that even when he does begin to ramp up he will need a rehab assignment before he’s able to return.
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The Dodgers claimed Taylor Trammell off waivers when Heyward was first placed on the injured list, seeking to replace Heyward’s left-handed bat with another left-handed option over the right-handed hitting Pages. Trammell, a former top-100 prospect in his own right, has barely played, appearing in just five games and failing to reach base in any of his six plate appearances.
Los Angeles’ other right-handed hitting outfield options carry financial commitments but have yet to get going to start the season. Chris Taylor, who is in the penultimate year of his four-year, $60 million deal he signed in the waning days before baseball’s lockout in the winter of 2021, is off to a 1-for-33 start with 17 strikeouts to start the year.
Kiké Hernández, who the club brought back in spring training, doesn’t have an extra-base hit and is hitting .189 (7-for-37) through his first 40 plate appearances.
Recalling Pages could provide a short-term solution and a vision for the future.
Of course, Pages’ future with the Dodgers wasn’t always as certain, as his early prospect days included a sliding doors moment in one of the most consequential deals in franchise history. As Los Angeles was finalizing an agreement to acquire Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox in early 2020, the club was also working on a contingent trade with the Los Angeles Angels that included Pages as part of the package.
Angels owner Arte Moreno balked at the wait to complete such a deal as the Betts deal had a minor hang-up — the Red Sox expressed concern with pitcher Brusdar Graterol’s physical. A reworked deal redirected Graterol to the Dodgers, where he blossomed as a reliever and kept Pages put with Los Angeles as he emerged as a budding prospect.
Now, it’s just the answer to a trivia question as Pages gets set to call Dodger Stadium home.
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