Andy Pages was on the fast-track to the big leagues before a shoulder injury stopped him in his tracks.
He injured his left shoulder in his first game after being promoted to Triple-A last May and surgery ended his season.
Pages showed up at Camelback Ranch this spring, ready to show the Los Angeles Dodgers that he was fully recovered and ready to make a difference in a lineup that was already projected to be top-heavy with Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Max Muncy.
All he did was go 8-for-17 in seven Cactus League games with a double, a triple and two home runs.
Pages said he had one thing on his mind during rehab.
“The first thing that came to my mind from the moment I got hurt, I put my mind to working hard to get to the big leagues as fast as possible,” Pages said.
Although he didn’t break camp with the big league squad, Pages carried his hot spring into Triple-A.
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At the time of his promotion, he was among the top three in the Pacific Coast League in hits (23, first), runs scored (16, second), OPS (1.146, third) and home runs (five, tied-for-third).
For his major league debut on Tuesday, manager Dave Roberts started him in center field and batted him seventh.
Washington’s leadoff batter C.J. Abrams singled to Pages in the first inning and then Pages singled to right field on the first pitch he saw in the second eventually coming around to score on an Austin Barnes single.
Pages was in the lineup on Wednesday, too, where he went 0-for-3. But he’s going to keep getting opportunities.
“I’ll try to get him in as much as I can to see what we have,” Roberts said.
