Andy Pages is tasked with becoming the “table-setter” for the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. He got the call to start the season in center field and hit in the number nine batting order slot, effectively turning it over to leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had expressed his growing confidence in the 24-year-old outfielder just before the club made relatively easy work of the Chicago Cubs by sweeping the two-game Tokyo Series.
The question of who would play center field was a point of contention for Roberts and the Dodgers heading into the 2025 MLB season. They had committed to signing multiple players who had previously proven themselves versatile and valuable. Roberts had to consider where superstar Mookie Betts would start, as there were musings around the idea of the former MVP returning to shortstop, where he had intermittently played early on, in 2024.
There is also Tommy Edman and Kike Hernandez to factor into the depth chart. Both of these utility-men extraordinaires have become Dodger Nation fan favorites. The Dodgers also have Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor. With this stacked roster, the team now has an increasingly abundant supply of fine, versatile players whom Roberts can pencil in at any position on the field.
The Dodgers also signed free-agent outfielder Michael Conforto, a left-handed stick with a career .804 OPS, to become a mainstay in leftfield. Three-time Silver Slugger winner Teoscar Hernandez has returned for 2025 and moves to right field. Ohtani, of course, is serving as the everyday DH and is hoping for a return to the mound very soon. That leaves Andy Pages as the only unproven player in the lineup.
Unlike the valued utilitymen previously listed here, Andy Pages does not offer Roberts any wiggle room in terms of where he can play. He is an outfielder through and through. Pages does have a plus arm and the speed to play center field adequately, if not very well. His bat is the only element of his game that will consistently keep him in the lineup.
The only spot in the order that Roberts can offer him on this high-powered Dodgers row of sluggers is the number nine slot. On this team, that is the table-setter. The man who will be expected to take walks, bang out singles, and generally be on base, while the top of the order, with Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, and Teoscar, will bring him in to score.
Pages, with an on-base-percentage of .305 in 2024, will need to walk more often, just as he did twice in the second game of the Tokyo series, if he is to remain in the lineup. In essence, the talented Cuban outfielder will need to entirely change his approach at the plate if he is to play every day. Pages’ strikeout totals last year and throughout his various stops in the minor leagues have been a concern.
His totals in just over 6 years of pro baseball reflect an almost mythical, “Crash Davis” type player who simply hits bombs. His stat line reveals 115 of them in the minor leagues. Pages cleared the yard 13 times for the Dodgers in 2024 but, as Roberts alluded to, struggled heavily toward the end of the season. That said, Pages was added to the postseason roster and contributed with two key home runs with modified playing time through the NLDS and NLCS.
Pages did not get a World Series at-bat, but he had earned his stripes as a player who could contribute and as a hitter with some pop. He must keep the power that he has already shown while boosting his OBP by roughly 50 points. He will also need to cut down on strikeouts. If these adjustments and improvements are made, Andy Pages could become MLB’s most valuable number nine hitter.
Andy Pages would most likely be the number three or four-hitter and the talk of the town in some of the smaller marker teams in MLB. With this incredibly stacked 2025 Dodgers team, he is relegated to the number nine spot in the batting order. That does not mean that his ceiling is low. There is a tremendous opportunity being presented to this young player. If Andy Pages can simply play his role and try not to do too much, he could, in time, become another perennial All-Star for the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
