Saturday, August 22, 2026

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2026

Oh man! If the Dodgers win their third consecutive World Championship, no one can say it was easy.

Andy Pages has been one of the most reliable Dodgers in the 2026 season. He was an All-Star. If Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs wasn’t having a phenomenal year offensively and defensively, Pages would be the frontrunner for the National League Gold Glove in center field.

On a hot Friday night at Dodger Stadium, a 100-mile-per-hour fastball struck Pages’ left hand. Tough as nails, he walked to first base, but everyone knew it was serious. The Dodgers and their fans hoped the hand would be bruised. That would have been the best-case scenario.

Nope.

The pitch fractured Pages’ hand. Dave Roberts thinks he will miss four to five weeks, but the team doesn’t know if Pages will require surgery. However, Roberts thinks even if Pages needs surgery, he can return to the active roster on the timetable.

I am saying, “Great.” The 2026 regular season is over in five weeks. If Pages can return in the expected timetable, he doesn’t have any time before the postseason to work on regaining his offensive production.

Pages has 5.6 bWAR, the second-highest bWAR on the Dodgers, behind Shohei Ohtani. After a quiet May and June, he has been an offensive force. In August, his batting average is .292, and over the last seven days, he has been hitting .360. Pages is the Dodgers’ best right-handed hitter, something the Dodgers can’t replace.

During the postgame press conference, when Dave Roberts announced the injury, he seemed more worried about the defense in center field. While I agree that defense is crucial, the Dodgers won’t win unless they outscore their opponent.

Before the Colorado series, the Dodgers struggled offensively. Roberts said that their approach at the plate was bad. I am worried about the offense, especially without Pages.

Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández are the righties in the lineup, and both are having subpar offensive performances. Although Betts is warming up offensively in August with a .261 batting average, he has a .238 batting average with 16 home runs and 46 RBI.

Since Teoscar Hernández returned from his hamstring pull, his offensive production is almost non-existent. The Dodgers have been wondering if they should platoon him. He has diminished power, with only fourteen home runs.

Pages’ absence is going to put more pressure on Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and Kyle Tucker to produce in high-pressure situations. While Freeman and Muncy can handle the added pressure, Ohtani and Tucker don’t need any additional pressure. Ohtani is trying to return from a knee injury to pitch in the postseason. He doesn’t want to abandon pitching, but the Dodgers need his offensive production more than his mound presence, even though he is arguably the most dominant right-handed pitcher in a Dodger uniform. However, he loves pitching.

Tucker is having a difficult time in his first year in LA. While in Colorado, he was shown in the Dodger dugout wiping tears away from his eyes. He has enormous expectations after signing a four-year, $240 million deal. He will have added pressure on his offensive performance with Pages injured.

The Dodgers need a center fielder. Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández can play center field. Edman has been playing second base since returning from offseason ankle surgery. His ankle is still worrisome, so the Dodgers may not want him to play center, putting more stress on the surgically repaired ankle. Hernández has lost a step, so his center field defense is iffy. He has been spelling Muncy at third base.

There is a lot of speculation that the Dodgers will promote Alek Thomas from Oklahoma City to play center field. He has three-plus years of major league experience with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he never had a batting average higher than .249. This year, after 28 games, the Diamondbacks released Thomas after hitting .181 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI. Since he signed with the Dodger organization, he has been in Triple-A with an .855 OPS. He can provide the Dodgers Gold Glove-caliber center field defense, but he won’t help the offense.

The Dodgers have two light-hitting catchers: Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt. The Dodgers need production somewhere on the diamond.

The Dodgers know injuries are a part of the game. Losing Pages is a major blow to them, but the Dodgers will survive and be in the postseason. Will they have one of the two best records in the National League so that they will get a bye in the National League Wild Card round? I am skeptical without Pages.