The Los Angeles Dodgers made a somewhat surprising yet potentially impactful move on Tuesday, calling up No. 3 prospect Andy Pages to make his MLB debut.
Pages was expected to get the call at some point this season, but after undergoing left shoulder surgery in 2023, he faced slim odds of making his debut this early in the season.
“Obviously when I first got hurt last year, my main focus was to keep working hard, controlling the things that I can control,” Pages said through an interpreter. “Just work hard to get back to the level I’m comfortable playing at.”
Pages certainly did work hard with his rehab, and when he got back on the field, it looked like he didn’t miss a beat. The No. 97 overall prospect in MLB impressed in Spring Training and he continued to hit well in Triple-A.
“I think we all felt that given how well he rehabbed this winter, how he came into camp, that it was going to happen at some point this year as far as his debut,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Due to a setback with Jason Heyward and struggles at the bottom of the lineup, the Dodgers had a chance to reward Pages with the hope that he would reward them back with a spark in their lineup.
Pages was inserted into the Dodgers lineup, batting seventh and playing center field, and in his first at-bat, singled to right field on the first pitch he saw.
The moment brought joy to Pages, but he said it didn’t last long because he had to get back to focusing on the game, he said via Dan Greenspan of the Associated Press:
“Obviously felt really great to get that hit,” Pages said. “But it was like kind of a fleeting moment to feel that excitement but also just to take it all in and then be ready for what’s next.”
The Dodgers got the ball back for Pages and authenticated it, and he already has plans for who he is gifting it to:
Pages said through a translator that he would give the ball from his first hit to his wife.
Pages is expected to receive a significant amount of playing time while he’s with the Dodgers, which includes starts against both right-handers and left-handers. “I’ll try to get him in there as much as I can to try to see what we have in him,” Roberts said.
How long it takes Pages to truly settle in at the Major League level is still up in the air, and like with nearly every player, he does have a flaw in his game as he struggles against up-and-in velocity, so MLB pitchers will look to take advantage of that until he adjusts.
But regardless, the Dodgers believe he can make an impact for them.
“I think what he adds is he’s a complete ballplayer,” Roberts said. “Very heady baseball player, he lives and breathes baseball, very good defender. Got him in center field, but plays right field really well.
“In the box, he’s a good hitter. He’s got plus-power and coming back from his dramatic surgery that he had last year, he’s been nothing but fantastic since Spring Training. We’re excited.”
Andy Pages almost slept through calls for MLB debut
When Pages received the call from Triple-A Oklahoma Baseball Club manager Travis Barbary, he was asleep. That turned into getting multiple calls and text messages trying to wake him up, which finally happened early in the morning.
“I don’t know when the first call started, but the first call I answered was at 2 a.m. (CT),” Pages said.
After answering the call from Barbary, he called his mom, Juana Maria, in Cuba to tell her the good news.
“It was a feeling that I can’t really describe,” Pages said. “Obviously it was more of a gift from me to her for me to get to this level. It was just being able to enjoy that I’m going to be able to play on TV for her.”
The emotional call soon became one that everyone in their neighborhood in Cuba was aware of, and reality set in, Andy Pages is a Major Leaguer.
“She started waking up everyone that lives in our neighborhood and obviously she cried,” Pages said. “I told her to stay calm because we’re finally in the big leagues, which is where she’s always wanted me to be.”
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