The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost their center fielder for most of the rest of the regular season. All-Star Andy Pages suffered a broken bone in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch Friday night (LA 5, PIT 4 in 10 innings), the team announced. He is expected to miss four weeks. It is unclear if Pages needs surgery, and what that would mean for his timetable.
"I would expect him back. Knowing him, on the earlier side," manager Dave Roberts said (via MLB.com). "There's still time in the season for him to be back. But I feel for him because he was having such a good year and he likes to play. But yeah, we've got to move on and hold down the fort until he's back."
Pages was in visible pain and was checked on by the trainer after being hit by the pitch, though he remained in the game to run the bases. He also played defense in the next half-inning before being removed. Here's the injury:
Center fielder Alek Thomas will be called up to fill the roster spot, reports The Athletic. Super utility men Enrique Hernández and Tommy Edman are also center field options, though Hernández turns 35 on Monday and Edman missed the start of this season following ankle surgery. The Dodgers may not want either of them to spend much time running around the outfield.
Pages, 25, broke out last season and has taken another step forward this year. He's hitting .272/.338/.458 with 21 home runs, which earned him a trip to the All-Star Game last month. Pages has also become a very good defensive center fielder. He's top 10 among all outfielders, not just center fielders, in both defensive runs saved and outs above average.
For all their star power, Pages has emerged as the Dodgers' top right-handed hitter, and he provides important lineup balance for an offense that typically leans left-handed. Here are the team's OPS+ leaders among righty hitters:
- Andy Pages: 121
- Enrique Hernández: 105 (only 17 games played around elbow and oblique injuries)
- Will Smith: 101 (out since June 5 with a neck injury)
- Miguel Rojas: 100
- Teoscar Hernández: 96
- Mookie Betts: 95
Smith has recently begun facing live pitching and could return in early September. Dalton Rushing is also sidelined with an elbow injury. Los Angeles is relying on Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt, two left-handed hitters, behind the plate at the moment.
The Dodgers have won five straight games and are a safe bet to win the NL West, though they are only three games up on the Atlanta Braves for the NL's No. 2 seed and thus a Wild Series bye. A bye would not only up the team's World Series odds, it would give Pages a few more days to heal and get back up to speed before the NLDS.
Los Angeles, the two-time defending World Series champion, is 78-51. The regular season ends Sunday, Sept. 27, which is five weeks and one day away.
