Dodgers Slugger Andy Pages Will Feel Less Sluggish In 2023

The Dodgers will be seeing less of Andy Pages in 2023.

The 22-year-old slugging outfielder reported to spring training 25 pounds lighter than his playing weight in 2022.

“During the season, there were times when there was just no consistency,” Pages said through an interpreter. “I felt sluggish. There were days when I didn’t feel good. So (losing weight) was to be more consistent.”

The 6-foot-1 Pages said it was “ultimately me” who provided the motivation to drop from a high of 230 pounds last season at Double-A Tulsa to 205 pounds since the end of the Arizona Fall League, and not because of any directives from the Dodgers.

Pages, who signed with the Dodgers in 2018 out of Cuba, led all Dodgers minor leaguers with 31 home runs, 88 RBIs and 77 walks with High-A Great Lakes in 2021. But his average dipped 30 points to .236 with at Double-A in 2022, when he hit 26 home runs.

Pages had a good run in the AFL, batting .296 with five home runs in 22 games, then went to work on changing his diet and bringing more focus to his work in the weight room.

The question now is whether the slimmer Pages will still carry the same power he has shown while hitting 86 home runs in four minor league seasons.

This spring has shown Pages hasn’t lost any of his strength, according to farm director Will Rhymes.

“That was kind of my first question,” Rhymes said. “I asked our strength guys, and by all of the testing, he lost weight but didn’t lose any strength in the testing. And watching his BP it’s really not a concern. But I asked the same question. I think it’s a fair question. 

“We’ll see how it plays out, but we feel he’s at a really good playing weight right now and that it’ll help him defensively. He’ll be able to play more center field, make him better on the bases.”

LA CONFIDENTIAL

— The 23rd player drafted in 2017, outfielder Jeren Kendall informed the Dodgers last winter that he was retiring from baseball. Signed for a $2.9 million bonus, Kendall hit just .209 with a 34% strikeout rate in five minor league seasons. While 20 of the 22 players drafted ahead of him in 2017 have reached MLB, Kendall never advanced past Double-A.

— Former Dodgers righthander Rubby De La Rosa returned after four seasons in Japan and signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers this spring. The 34-year-old was once the No. 3 prospect in the organization and made his big league debut with the Dodgers in 2011. Since then, he has had Tommy John surgery twice, was part of the blockbuster trade with the Red Sox in 2012 that brought Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto and Carl Crawford to Los Angeles and put up a 4.58 ERA in parts of five seasons with the Red Sox and D-backs.