LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers on Tuesday got a few regulars back as reinforcements heading into the final week of the regular season and into October, activating center fielder Andy Pages and pitcher Roki Sasaki off the injured list.
Pages missed 27 games after getting hit by a fastball on his left hand on August 21. Sasaki left his start in Atlanta five days later with a blister on his right middle finger.
Emmet Sheehan and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday.
Pages
was an All-Star starter this season, and when he got hurt was tied with Yoshinobu Yamamoto for second-highest FanGraphs WAR (3.9) on the team, behind only Shohei Ohtani. By Baseball Reference WAR, Pages is still third on the team now at 5.4, trailing only Ohtani and Yamamoto. That’ll happen with a .272/.338/.458 batting line with a 118 wRC+ combined with plus-defense in center field.
Before getting hit by an errant fastball on August 21, Pages started 125 of the Dodgers’ 129 games, and led the team in plate appearances (550) at the time. Pages and Ohtani are still tied for the Dodgers’ lead with 80 runs batted in. With Pages out, Alek Thomas was first called up to start six games in center field, followed by Tommy Edman starting 17 games, plus three starts by Alex Call and one by Kiké Hernández.
With Edman moving to the outfield and once Thomas was optioned, Miguel Rojas (10) and Alex Freeland (eight) have covered all but one of the starts at second base in September.
Sasaki struggled earlier in the season, but improved as the season progressed. He has a streak of six straight starts with no more than two runs allowed until his blister start in Atlanta. On the season, Sasaki has a 4.46 ERA and 4.42 xERA, but since July 8 he’s down to a 3.25 ERA and 3.76 xERA in eight starts.
With Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow set for the postseason rotation, the Dodgers will see over the next two weeks if Blake Snell will be hampered by his left groin discomfort, and will have Sheehan at the ready. That allows them to use Sasaki in relief, as they did last postseason out of necessity.
“I could see multiples [innings], but it’s not going to be bulk as in four or five innings,” manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday.
Last season was a different situation for Sasaki, who struggled mightily as a starter and spend four months on the injured list before returning in the final week of the regular season. There was no room in the rotation, so he pitched in relief in the postseason. He wasn’t dominant — only six strikeouts among his 43 batters faced, with five walks — but he was effective, allowing only one run over nine appearances and 10 2/3 innings, the highlight his perfect three innings of relief in the Dodgers’ NLDS Game 4 clincher over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Sasaki saved three games last postseason. Roberts said Sasaki probably wouldn’t get an opportunity in a save situation right away this week, but it could progress to that by the postseason.
“I trust Roki in any situation. I would say probably starting a clean inning,” Roberts said. “He’s done it, he’s really good. He’s a neutral pitcher, high-octane stuff. And you really just need four starters. So we’re in a good spot there, for now.”
Sheehan has been fantastic of late, allowing only one run in three starts for the Dodgers over the previous two weeks, with 24 strikeouts in 17 innings. The plan for Sheehan is to start on Saturday for Oklahoma City should the Comets advance to the Triple-A championship game.
Alfonzo was back with the Dodgers since September 6 when Dalton Rushing was placed on the injured list with elbow soreness. In the 14 games since, Alfonzo played only once, pinch-hitting as the designated hitter at the end of a 14-1 blowout of the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out.
Alfonzo made his major league debut against the Padres on July 5, and started nine games behind the plate. He had five hits in 28 at-bats with three doubles and four runs batted in.
