Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages is expected to miss the next four to five weeks after suffering a broken left hand during Friday’s 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team has not yet officially announced placing Pages on the injured list.
The injury occurred in the third inning when Pages was hit by a 100 mph sinker from Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler on the back of his hand. Pages stayed in the game for two more innings before Kiké Hernández replaced him in center field. The Dodgers initially announced that Pages had a contusion, but X-rays revealed a fracture.
Following the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Pages will return this season, even if he requires surgery, on that four- to five-week timeline. That would take him right to the end of the regular season. But the Dodgers will be playing in October during the MLB postseason.
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“X-rays unfortunately came up as a fracture, so he’ll be out for a while,” Roberts told reporters. “It’s just really unfortunate, obviously. It’s not season-ending… I would expect him back, knowing him, on the earlier side.”
Pages, 25, has been one of the Dodgers’ most reliable hitters with a .272/.338/.458 slash average, 21 home runs, 25 doubles, 80 RBI (tied for the team lead with Shohei Ohtani) and 12 stolen bases. He’s also been one of MLB’s best center fielders, credited by advanced metrics with 17 Defensive Runs Saved and 9 Outs Above Average.
That performance earned him his first All-Star Game berth this year. Fans voted him into the National League starting lineup.
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To replace Pages on the major-league roster, outfielder Alek Thomas is expected to be called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City. In 55 games with the Comets, Thomas has a .296/.362/.493 slash line with 7 homers, 17 doubles and 40 RBI.
The Dodgers acquired Thomas from the Arizona Diamondbacks after he was designated for assignment in May. At the time he was DFA’ed, Thomas was batting .181/,222/.340.
Thomas hit 4 homers with 6 RBI during Arizona’s 2023 run to the World Series. In Game 4 of the NLCS versus the Philadelphia Phillies, he hit a 2-run homer off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning. But he was never able to build on that postseason performance with regular-season success.
In addition to Thomas, Hernández and Tommy Edman will likely also play center field in Pages’ absence.
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