Andy Pages’ thunderous bat has turned heads this spring. And now the prized Los Angeles Dodgers prospect is poised to bring things to Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers are close to calling Pages up, a league source confirmed to Athleticismcontinuing the 23-year-old’s rapid rise, less than a year after undergoing major shoulder surgery.
Few players in Los Angeles camp have turned heads like Pages, whose combination of power at the plate and effective defense in center and right field led to unsolicited praise from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts – who said that Pages would be a big player by the end of the year. That moment has now arrived.
Pages has long been considered one of the best young hitters in the sport, making Keith Law’s top 100 prospect heading into the 2023 season (at No. 67) and working his way up to Triple A in May. He then suffered a torn labrum on a swing in his first game with Oklahoma City. After the operation, Los Angeles placed guardrails on Pages in the camp which he quickly passed through.
In 73 plate appearances in Triple-A to start this season, Pages hit .371/452/.694 with five home runs, a staggering line that exemplifies the type of significant offensive edge the Dodgers had dreamed of. He also reiterated that his breakout this spring was no mirage and that his power has fully rebounded after major surgery.
“That,” Pages said this spring in Spanish, “will always be there.”
The bottom of Los Angeles’ order floundered to start the season, as the seventh through ninth places in the order combined to hit .162 — fourth-worst in the sport — with a 30 wRC+ that ranks second-worst in the majors.
Plugging Pages could help provide a spark, especially as Jason Heyward’s absence drags on due to lingering back pain. Roberts said Tuesday that the 34-year-old outfielder still has some discomfort in the area and that even when he begins to gain strength, he will need a rehab assignment before he can return.
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The Dodgers claimed Taylor Trammell off waivers when Heyward was first placed on the injured list, looking to replace Heyward’s left-handed bat with another left-handed option versus Pages hitting right-handers. Trammell, a former top-100 prospect in his own right, barely played, appearing in just five games and failing to reach base in any of his six plate appearances.
Los Angeles’ other right-handed outfield options carry financial commitments, but have yet to start the season. Chris Taylor, who is in the penultimate year of his four-year, $60 million contract he signed days before baseball’s winter 2021 lockout, is experiencing a 1-for-33 start with 17 strikeouts to start the year. .
Kiké Hernández, whom the club brought back from spring training, has no extra-base hits and is hitting .189 (7-for-37) in his first 40 plate appearances.
Page recall could provide a short-term solution and vision for the future.
Of course, Pages’ future with the Dodgers wasn’t always so certain, as his early days as a prospect included a sliding doors moment in one of the most important deals in franchise history. While Los Angeles was finalizing a deal 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 was reluctant to wait to make such a deal because the Betts deal had one minor problem – the Red Sox expressed concern over the physical condition of pitcher Brusdar Graterol. A reworked deal redirected Graterol to the Dodgers, where he flourished as a reliever and kept Pages in Los Angeles as he emerged as a budding prospect.
Now, that’s just the answer to a trivia question as Pages prepares to call Dodger Stadium home.
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(Photo: Steph Chambers/Getty Images)