One of the central themes surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers so far in 2024 is how they quickly go from scorching hot one day to ice cold the next, particularly on offense. Fortunately, the winning streak before Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays was one of the team’s best runs so far this season, keeping the club ahead of the pack in the National League West.
Obviously, the Dodgers will have a few bad days here and there, and even a slump or two spanning several games. However, getting swept at home against the Nationals, then turning around and manhandling them on the road is an excellent example of how schizophrenic the team’s production can be.
As we’ve been discussing all year, not having a 100% solid outfield core has been problematic for the Dodgers, especially with the bats. Any outfielder not named Teoscar Hernandez typically sits in the seven through nine holes with an average well below the Mendoza Line.
One of the few bright spots of that group, however, has been rookie Andy Pages. The righty slugger has now put together a semi-decent sample size, slashing .302/.326/.535 with four doubles and two long balls since his arrival in the bigs in mid-April.
Although it seems like Pages has been around forever, he’s only 23 years old and certainly still considered a prospect from an age standpoint. The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder agreed to terms with the Dodgers as an international free agent out of Cuba back in October of 2018 for a $300,000 signing bonus, just several months after the organization landed top Venezuelan catching prospect Diego Cartaya.
Currently, Pages is the team’s No. 3 rated prospect according to MLB pipeline, ranking behind righty pitcher Nick Frasso and catcher Dalton Rushing.
For years, Pages was buried in the organizational depth chart. Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger had a stronghold on the outfield for several seasons, and players like AJ Pollock, Matt Beaty, Chris Taylor and even Edwin Rios for a while made up the secondary wave of players. It also didn’t help that Pages was always prone to striking out, as made evident by his 2022 season when he punched out 140 times and slashed just .236/.336/.468 in his first full season playing Double-A ball.
However, Pages hit an insane .371/.452/.694 with five long balls over his first 15 games at Triple-A in 2024, finally convincing the Los Angeles management team to give him a major league shot.
Of course, if Pages continues to play stellar defense and produce at the plate, there will be no reason for the team to demote him, especially when considering all the other options. Pages has excellent arm strength, solid range and can handle all three outfield spots. More importantly, he’s showing that he can hit major league pitching.
The big question is whether the team will pursue any type of outfield help at the summer trade deadline. If Jason Heyward ever gets healthy, he still doesn’t represent a huge upgrade for a team with playoff ambitions, particularly when both James Outman and Chris Taylor are hitting well below .200.
It’s too early to guess what teams will be dealing come August 1, but it’s probably a good guess to assume the Dodgers will definitely be negotiating.