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The first update for Phase 1 of All-Star voting was released on Monday, and the Dodgers are on their way to being well-represented on the National League team on July 15 in Atlanta. Shohei Ohtani is the overall leading vote-getter in the NL, and Will Smith, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández rank among the leaders at their positions. Tommy Edman, Max Muncy and Mookie Betts would be finalists if Phase 1 voting ended now. • VOTE NOW: 2025 PRO SPIRIT MLB All-Star Ballot. Watch the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard July 15 on FOX But one of their most deserving All-Star candidates is on the outside looking in, as of the first ballot update. That is none other than Andy Pages, who ranked seventh among NL outfielders behind Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Hernández, Juan Soto, Corbin Carroll and Ronald Acuña Jr. With no disrespect to Hernández, who's having a fine season, Pages should be the top Dodgers outfielder under consideration to start the All-Star Game. Not only did the 24-year-old make an impressive early season turnaround to become one of Los Angeles' most valuable players, but he arguably has been one of the best NL outfielders in the first half. "It’d be amazing. It’d be a great feat for myself," Pages said recently through interpreter Juan Dorado. "But obviously … it’s out of my hands. If I get there, it’d be awesome.” |
Entering April 15, Pages was hitting .137. A handful of mistakes in the outfield and on the basepaths didn't help the overall picture. But manager Dave Roberts made it clear that he wasn't losing hope in his young outfielder. Pages continued to get everyday opportunities, and it wasn't long before he began to turn things around. He really took a step forward when he racked up a combined 10 hits in a three-game series against the Pirates from April 25-27. Pages entered that series batting .183 and managed to raise his average to a healthy .277 by the end of it. From that point, he didn't let up. With a much larger chunk of the season under his belt, Pages has shown himself to be a top defensive outfielder in the NL, as well as a dangerous bat in a lineup loaded with talent. Here's where Pages ranks among his fellow qualified NL outfielders: • Second in batting average (.290), behind TJ Friedl (.294) • Tied for third in RBIs (50) with Hernández, behind Crow-Armstrong (60) and James Wood (56) • Fourth in homers (15), behind Carroll, Crow-Armstrong and Wood (who all have 20) • Fourth in slugging percentage (.509), behind Carroll (.573), Wood (.564) and Crow-Armstrong (.558) • Sixth in OPS (.839), behind Wood (.944), Carroll (.914), Tucker (.898), Crow-Armstrong (.867) and Soto (.845) |
Even if Pages isn't elected to the NL's starting lineup by fans, he should have a good shot at making the roster as a reserve. Phase 1 of All-Star voting is open through 9 a.m. PT on Thursday. In his sophomore season, Pages has established himself as one of baseball's rising stars. He could really put himself on the map if he makes it to the Midsummer Classic. "Boy, he's playing like it right now," Roberts said recently. "That's up to the fans, but he's playing All-Star baseball." |
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At the beginning of the month, Tanner Scott was in a troubling stretch. He gave up 12 runs (10 earned) in a span of seven appearances (six innings) that ended on June 2, when he was charged with the loss as the Dodgers fell to the Mets in 10 innings. That night, Roberts said he would welcome the opportunity to give Scott a lower-leverage inning in order to reset. But with several back-end arms on the injured list, the Dodgers' manager didn't have many better options for save situations. Lo and behold, Scott got the ball the very next day in a tie game in the 10th inning. This time, he looked much improved across a scoreless inning before the Dodgers walked it off. Roberts said afterward that Scott and the pitching coaches were able to clean up some things mechanically between appearances. Given that Scott had pitched poorly the day before, it almost seemed too good to be true. But since making the adjustments, Scott has allowed just an unearned run in eight appearances. Scott, for his part, wasn't surprised that he was able to take to the adjustments so quickly. He felt that things seemed to click for him after he and the coaching staff did a deep dive to identify the issues in his delivery. "When we were looking at it, you could tell what I was doing wrong and how I was missing my locations," Scott said. "And it's worked. So I'm gonna keep rolling with it." |
• Alexis Díaz, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Reds on May 29, tossed a scoreless inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday. It was his first appearance since being traded, as Díaz had been working on his delivery at the Dodgers' player development complex. "They've done a fantastic job as far as kind of identifying some things that got a little wonky with his delivery, cleaning that up," Roberts said. "He's back to where he was a couple years ago, a few years ago." The Dodgers don't have a timeline for when Díaz might join the big league club, but that's ultimately the plan. • In the last two games of the series vs. the Padres, against two right-handed starting pitchers, Hyeseong Kim started in the outfield. Michael Conforto did not. While Conforto has shown promising flashes at times, the veteran outfielder has yet to put it all together for an extended stretch. Kim, on the other hand, brings another dimension to the Dodgers' lineup and has earned more playing time going forward. |
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