The Dodgers are calling up top outfield prospect Andy Pages, as first reported by Francys Romero (X link). The 23-year-old is already on L.A.’s 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding 26-man move, though it’s possible his promotion still leads to a 40-man move. Speculatively speaking, fellow outfielder Taylor Trammell could be at risk with Pages’ ascension to the big leagues, and Trammell is a recent waiver claim who’s out of minor league options.
Pages currently ranks as baseball’s No. 94 overall prospect at MLB.com and No. 95 overall at Baseball America. He garnered additional top-100 fanfare heading into the 2023 season but saw his stock take a bit of a hit due to injury troubles; Pages’ 2023 campaign ended when he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder in early June.
That injury came on the heels of Pages’ first promotion to the Triple-A level. He appeared in just one game with the Dodgers’ Oklahoma City affiliate but had turned in a stout .284/.430/.495 batting line in 142 Double-A plate appearances prior to that move up the minor league ladder. The righty-swinging Pages has obliterated Triple-A pitching in the early stages of the 2024 season, tallying 73 plate appearances and recording a .371/.452/.694 slash with five homers, three doubles, a triple, two steals, an 11% walk rate and a 17.8% strikeout rate.
Pages draws praise for his raw power — which couples nicely with a swing and approach geared for lifting the ball — and plate discipline. He can play all three outfield positions, though scouting reports at BA and MLB.com suggest he profiles best in a corner, where he has the speed and instincts to be a capable defender.
The Dodgers’ outfield currently features Teoscar Hernandez in right, with a combination of James Outman, Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor and the aforementioned Trammell rounding things out in the other two spots. Jason Heyward is currently on the injured list with a lower back issue, though when healthy, he and Hernandez can be expected to roam the corners most days. Pages could potentially serve as a righty-hitting complement to Heyward and/or Outman, though it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the Dodgers plan to get him more regular work than the short side of a platoon.
Given the timing of the promotion, Pages can’t accrue a full year of big league service time in 2024 — at least not solely by remaining on the roster. Because he was regarded as a top-100 prospect on multiple outlets, he’d qualify for a full year of service time if he finishes in the top two in this year’s National League Rookie of the Year voting. Barring that — and pending future optional assignments bac to the minors, which are a firm possibility — Pages will be controllable all the way through 2030. If he’s in the big leagues to stay, he’ll be a surefire Super Two player who’s eligible for arbitration four times, rather than the standard three, beginning in the 2026-27 offseason.
Turning the pages…
Trammell should be the DFA, he has a hard time even putting the ball in play, fouling off 88 down the middle yesterday. Dodgers wouldnt dare DFA him on Jackie Robinson Day, be a PR nightmare.
Yup, it was obvious that Trammell is not really ready for MLB pitching. I’m not sure if Pages is either but he can’t do much worse and has much higher upside. That said, you just worry about bringing in youngsters early and worry if they lose confidence if they fail in smaller sample sizes. Pages could have used the AAA experience last year.
I’m not really into the upside concept but more into the prospect already in the organization and on the roster getting his introduction to the bigs concept. I’m also not much into the concept of the parade of very temporary pieces coming and going like busses at the bus station. Unfortunately, Friedman is — and I can’t recall ever hearing a fan say they liked having players turn up whose name they’ve never heard before and who disappear before they learn them.
I’m more concerned about playing a player too early and have them lose confidence, and never recover from that rut. Not saying that happens to Pages, but it’s obviously happened to plenty of players in the past. As much as fans want the next top prospect to succeed patience is needed. It is too bad that Pages got hurt last year as he could have used that AAA experience to be better prepared for MLB this year. He’s only had 77 plate appearances at AAA in his career. Some guys can make that jump from AA, and some guys don’t. It’s always a mixed bag as to how prospects perform at MLB. But on paper alone, 77 PAs at AAA is in the very low side.
I’m not suggesting he’s likely to be ready to be brought up for the rest of the season, or even for more than a few weeks. Get him into 4-5 games, maybe a couple dozen PAs, depending on how well he shows. By then presumably Heyward comes back and Pages goes back down to work on whatever they saw he needed. Gonna be at the game tonight so maybe I will see his debut, FWIW. Either way I think this will be more interesting than another appearance by a guy who is guaranteed to be going nowhere. Speaking of which, Edwardo Salazar?
Yet Chris Taylor gets start after start with his .030 average
You think he’s going to keep hitting at anywhere close to a 0.030 average. 33 at bats. You think that’s a long enough sample size?
I don’t know man, but you know as well as me that he just doesn’t look right. He’s just swinging at anything low (and missing), and when he’s making contact it’s also weak. He looks like he’s swinging through molasses. I’m not sure what’s going on with him but it doesn’t look like he just hasn’t warmed up yet. He’s always been streaky but this is just BAD
He will be just fine. Probably the most streaky player the Dodgers have had. Earlier in season he had some hard contact at bats with no luck. When the 0 for number gets bigger it’s natural tendency to press even more. Right now he just needs a couple of good at bats and hits, and he’ll get going. If you dumped all of your players who went into these 0 for and 1 for slumps you wouldn’t have any players left at the end of the season. It’s part of the game. Everyone anointed Pages as the Savior and look at where he’s at. Yeah, it’s a tiny sample size. But point being, baseball is a hard game. And if you’re going to scrutinize at small/tiny sample sizes the game is even more difficult. Taylor is a bench player who was forced into starter action due to Heyward getting hurt. He’s still an above average bench player.
@mlbdodgerfan2015 All very reasonable, but here’s the thing. Taylor’s old, for a baseball player who was never a star, and at 33 is right around the age of being done for a player whose career years of 4 WAR each were back in 2017 and 2018..
His K-rate for 2022-23 was an abysmal 34%. In 2024 it’s 41%. This is exactly what Taylor would look like if he was done.
He was also horrible, he was actually worse, in ST against AA-caliber competition, K’ing 20 times in 41 PA. That’s not a slump. That’s something else, something worse.
There’s bad, and then there’s “what’s that smell? OMIGOD!”
Taylor has that aroma around him. If the most we can hope for is 2022-23 minus further age-related decline, even some improvement from here won’t really help him.
There’s bad, and then there’s watching your K-rate go from a lousy, almost league-worst 34%, to an intolerable, how would you feel if we IL’ed you for a bit at 41%.
Look at other slumps. They rarely look like this.
You keep mentioning 2024 stats but that’s over 39 ABs. Tiny sample sizes. You didn’t mention ST did you? C’mon. Most of that is tune up to get ready for the season. And again, tiny sample sizes.
Taylor is obviously playing poorly and these kind of starts get to you mentally but my guess is that he bounces back and starts to put up stats that are more indicative of what he’s done as a Dodger.
Can he pitch????
Can he throw a strike ? Dodgers been playing like puke on both sides of ball. Let’s get it together. Go Dodgers !
Showcasing him for other teams before the Deadline. I see you.
No, they have Trammell, Taylor, Kikè and Outman that can’t hit their way out of a wet paper bag right now.
You’re both right I think if he has pedestrian numbers like a .250 batting average thell package him with another average guy for a excellent player like Anderson from the White Sox
@ Shadow
You mean Tim Anderson who’s signed with the Marlins in February?
The 0-20 marlins yes.
It’s not the 80’s. Batting average tells a very minute part of the story. And Anderson doesn’t play for the White Sox.
Doubling-down on dumb-dumb comments per usual.
LADs need to do something, with a lineup that falls of a cliff after the 6-hole.
James Outman: .185 BA, .605 OPS
Kike Hernandez: .189 BA, .414 OPS
Gavin Lux: .157 BA, .394 OPS
CT: .030 BA, .184 OPS
When Outman isn’t close to this 26-man’s biggest problem, the team has REAL problems, aside from a godawful bullpen that the FO can never seem to quite get right. (Injuries don’t help, but welcome to the sport.)
How the FO believed that Muncy and Lux were capable of being the starting left side of an infield will forever boggle the mind, but now, all of these accompanying issues make solving any one problem seem like plugging one hole of a dam with leaks everywhere.
(And somehow, it’ll all be Doc’s fault….)
Can Busch not play even an average 3B?
You mean MIchael Busch of the Chicago Cubs?
Yes, the same top-100 prospect they traded away for 2 good prospects that won’t help them anytime soon (both in A-ball). That reeked of clearing room.
…..and has hit HR’s in FIVE consecutive games for the Cubs?
I hated that trade, and have always said that Busch should have made the squad even if you lose defensive play and flexibility. He has hit at every level and posted some ridiculous minor league numbers prior to this year.. Even if he gives you below average defense at 2B, he would easily be an upgrade over Lux. Looks like the Dodgers bet on the wrong horse in Lux over Busch. I think there was a high potential that Busch was going to outhit Lux in MLB. To be fair the Dodgers though that Lux could play SS and perhaps give them average field play at SS. But I think they were wrong in what kind of bat Lux can give them. There is still time, but had they known what they know now, Busch over Lux at 2B made more sense even with a bad glove for Busch at 2B.
Knew that trade was gonna hurt. Was hitting fool in minors.
Busch was 20 grade fielder at 3rd according to fangraphs. If he was close to an average fielder he would be a dodger. Dodgers came to a realization that he was limited to DH or 1B which meant he was blocked.
If the Dodgers could turn back time they probably give Busch 2B job. Even with a bad glove. They obviously didn’t think Lux was going to fail at SS but it is what happened. And his bat looks terrible. He’ll post much better numbers than what he is doing now but even in 2022, his bat is not close to what Busch will likely post in 2024.
At O’s
Busch is better defensively at third than Muncy is. And he’s miles better than Muncy at 2nd. Anyone who watched Muncy play at OKC will tell you he’s one of the worst defenders to ever make the modern Dodgers infield. Casey Porter at Dodgers Daily lives in Oklahoma and has gone over Muncy’s lack of glove many times too.
Dodgers like the attitude of guys like Muncy, Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes. They don’t care how bad their on field performance gets.
You have a point with Lux, but u live with it with Muncy, who gives you 35 HRs and 100 RBIs. If Lux doesn’t start hitting or walking more, might as well go with Rojas, who at least catches the ball.
CT3Strikes I’m Out
Horrendous at the plate
Bullpen WAR 2017 to 2024
1 Yankees 43.6
2 Dodgers 41.0
Bullpen ERA 2017 to 2024
1 Dodgers 3.50
Bullpen FIP 2017 to 2024
1 Dodgers 3.72
Bullpen xFIP 2017 to 2024
1) Dodgers 3.88
Bullpen WPA 2017 to 2024
1) Rays 37.86
2) Yankees 36.28
3) Brewers 36.12
4) Dodgers 35.02
What are you talking about.? The Dodgers bullpen is consistently one of the best in the league.
This happens with LAD most years but 2023 is the most obvious comp. Give it a little time…
Outman has been hitting the ball well, just getting no results for it.
Why did this take so damn long Friedman really stubborn in holding young talent back
It is April 16th
The very question I asked when they picked up the no-hoper Trammel. We had to know he’d be DFA’d in a matter of weeks and they’d be burning an option year on Pages anyway. Friedman’s attraction to odds and ends is not helping this team.
LAD scored 5 or more runs 10 games in a row to start season. it’s not like offense has been a major issue. It’s only game 20 tonight. Relax.
Want to try responding to my actual point?
Friedman has a lot of fan chat chains to read. Once he caught up to yours he saw the light and got with your program.
What program? (Read as: try again)
Nah you are trying enough for both of us
Since sarcasm seems to be all you’ve got, you might want to try spreading it around some. I don’t see anyone here disagreeing with my point.
Enjoy your day.
Today’s frowny winner.
🙁
get over yourself
Nice. And the double frowny.
🙁 🙁
Be proud. You earned it.
Which was… what, comrade?
“Friedman’s attraction to odds and ends is not helping this team.”
What’s the proper response to something that vague?
—-In any case, if Friedman’s purpose was to try using Trammell to credibly keep Pages down and pick up another year of team control as Heyward began contending with back spasms, welcome to the Bigs. As for Trammell being ‘hopeless,’ at 26, once ranked the #11 prospect in the game by BP, and capable of playing a little CF in addition to LF and RF, there are far worse players being thrown into the breech of the 7th OFer slot.
Pages trampled pitchers this season on his way to Dodger Stadium like Godzilla making his way to Tokyo.
Chris Taylor should be jettisoned next in favor of Miguel Vargas.
Hard to envision the Dodgers eating $30 million and cutting Chris Taylor. I think they value his career number versus 50 ABs or so. He is declining, but I do not think he will fall of the cliff.
Agreed. Dodger fans are so quick to look at the tiniest sample sizes. He’s not going to hit like that all season. I’ve always hated the Taylor 4 year $60mm deal because you should never pay that much for a bench player, even a good bench player. Problem you get is when you start playing bench players more significant time as they’re only really good relative to what a bench player puts out. When you start comparing them to starters their stats look more average or below average.
That said, he has really only had one terrible year as a Dodger. He runs extremely hot and cold, and there should be a lot of bounce back this season. Fans need to relax and let it play out. Between Outman, Lux, Taylor and others in bottom of lineup you should see some bounce back. It’s just the natural progression of a regular season.
Christ Taylor looks so lost at the plate. Wonder how long they will continue giving the guy starts and at bats. His swing is one of the worst I have ever witnessed.
So agree. It looks like that golf swing Belli had a few years back.
I thought he was going to make tweaks to the swing in the off-season. Guess that didn’t happen. Exactly, it’s the golf swing but shorter than Bellis. Let’s see how much longer they give him. He’s an auto out right now
He has posted very good numbers overall as a Dodger, as a bench player. I place a lot more weight on his career 0.769 OPS as a Dodger, including 0.746 last year than his 1/33 start. Not great numbers for a starter but outstanding for a bench player. His confidence is not there now but once he gets it going he should be fine.
LATD
10 bucks says you’re looking at his stats and not his swing
Has there ever been such dramatic splits between the front half and the back half of a lineup like the Dodgers have? Maybe the greatest top half in baseball history and currently working on historical lows on the bottom half.
That bottom half will be just fine. Outman has been hitting the ball hard, but in a bit of bad luck lately and Lux is a natural hitter. Throw Pages into the mix and it’s fine down there the rest of the season. Not sure you realize it or not, but hitting tends to go in cycles.
Kike and Taylor have both historically been above average hitters. I’m confident they’ll both turn it around. Trammell on the other hand, looks awful and has never had big league success. Kudos to the Dodgers for finally giving pages a shot.
Both are streaky hitters, especially Taylor. So little doubt they will shake it off their slumps, eventually. The question is what is done with the lineup in the meantime, and having another weak hand to draw to doesn’t seem like the answer.
As players age there’s a point where you can no longer base expectations on past performance. Taylor is now 33 and his consistently regressing metrics suggest Father Time may be taking its toll on him. The last 4+ seasons Taylor’s K% went from 28% to 29% to 35% to 33% to 44%. If I were Friedman, my primary goal in life would be to find a trade partner for Taylor. His services are no longer needed in Los Angeles.
Some regression would be a huge improvement for Taylor at this point, assuming the word is used for its literal meaning.
People over react to April results way too much. Even a month is a small sample size. People forget Jorge Mateo looked like an MVP candidate last April/May then proceeded to be one of the worst MLB hitters the rest of the year.
Art Moreneo Kicking himself right now, for nixing the Joc trade in 2020. Pages was part of that deal.
Hopefully, these young guys bring a spark to a team that looks like it’s just going through the motions right now….
Another miracle lucky find and oh my goodness the Dodgers desperately “need” another bat to go with all their purchased superstars.
Probably Trammell getting D’dFA.
Then a phantom IL for CT3
Then a real injury
note to every other team’s pitching coach, just have your guys throw fastballs over Pages head and he will swing at them. your welcome.
Taylor is done. He’s played with the house money for years. It’s time to cash in his chips and catch a flight out. There hasn’t been somebody so lost at the plate since Karen Carpenter’s anorexia intervention at Hometown Buffet.
Pages has the kind of minor league career you don’t often see. He’s not quite in the tier of guys like Giancarlo Stanton or Pete Alonso, but he’s not far beneath them.
The top tier doesn’t just succeed at every level of the minors—they dominate. Pages on the other hand hit 236/.336/.468 in AA. Hardly abysmal, but not overpowering.
You can toss his rookie ball numbers as indicative but not predictive, but a .933 OPS in high-A as a 20 year old is very impressive. Far less impressive (but still impressive), is a .925 OPS in AA at 22, albeit as a repeater in AA. The only hole in his game, statistically, is the comparatively modest BA and a BB rate he’s not going to carry to the majors.
Andy (Turning) Pages will succeed, in short, but not without a couple of hiccups.
— it was interesting to see the Mets Mark Vientos was sent down at the start of the year. As a 21 yo he hit .281/346/.580/.927 in AA.