Top Dodgers Prospect to Miss Rest of Season After Surgery
The Dodgers were dealt a tough blow a couple weeks ago when top outfield prospect Andy Pages (no. 6 in LA's system, 63 in baseball per MLB Pipeline) suffered a shoulder injury in his first game after being called up to the Triple-A level. He underwent season-ended surgery to repair a torn labrum, according to The Athletic.
Pages worked hard in the offseason to improve his conditioning and was reportedly down 25 pounds as he reported to spring training. The 22-year-old outfielder out of Cuba was in the midst of a fine rebound season at Double-A, posting a .2/84/.430/.495 triple slash line over 142 plate appearances. His power was a bit down from years past but his overall game was better on offense and defense.
Here's an excerpt from Darragh McDonald at MLB Trade Rumors on Pages' improvements this year.
He spent all of last year in Double-A, striking out at a 24.5% rate but also walking 10.9% of the time while launching 26 home runs. His .236/.336/.468 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 102, or 2% above league average. He returned to that level this year and showed positive signs of development, getting his strikeout rate down to 22.5% while his walk rate ticked up to 17.6%.
With the injury, it cleared up any conundrum the Dodgers may have had about the next outfield prospect to be called up. Pages and fellow OF prospect Jonny DeLuca (both are on the 40-man roster) were bumped up to Triple-A at the same time and now, after an injury to Trayce Thompson, DeLuca got the call on Sunday to join the big league roster for the first time in his career.
Pages should be ready for spring training next season.
