The Dodgers added a pair of important pieces on Tuesday, activating center fielder Andy Pages and pitcher Roki Sasaki from the injured list as they head into the final week of the regular season and October.
Pages had been out for 27 games after taking a fastball off his left hand on August 21. Sasaki’s absence was shorter, but just as frustrating in its own way: he exited his start in Atlanta five days later because of a blister on his right middle finger.
To make room, the Dodgers optioned Emmet Sheehan and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday.
Pages’ return matters because of how much he had already meant to the lineup before the injury. He was an All-Star starter this season and, at the time he got hurt, was tied with Yoshinobu Yamamoto for second on the team in FanGraphs WAR at 3.9, trailing only Shohei Ohtani.
By Baseball Reference WAR, he still ranks third on the club at 5.4, behind Ohtani and Yamamoto. That production came with a .272/.338/.458 slash line, a 118 wRC+, and strong defense in center field.
Before the pitch that sent him to the injured list, Pages had started 125 of the Dodgers’ 129 games and led the team with 550 plate appearances. He and Ohtani remain tied for the team lead with 80 RBIs.
While Pages was sidelined, the Dodgers pieced together center field with Alek Thomas, Tommy Edman, Alex Call and Kiké Hernández. Thomas made six starts there after his call-up, Edman started 17, Call started three and Hernández got one.
Edman’s move to the outfield also opened up second base, where Miguel Rojas and Alex Freeland handled nearly all of the work in September. Once Thomas was optioned, the two covered all but one of the starts at the position, with Rojas making 10 and Freeland eight.
Sasaki’s season has taken a different path, but the finish line is looking better than the early months suggested. He had a rough opening stretch, then settled in as the year went on.
Before the blister setback in Atlanta, he had put together six straight starts in which he allowed no more than two runs. Overall, he owns a 4.46 ERA and 4.42 xERA, but since July 8 he has posted a 3.25 ERA and 3.76 xERA across eight starts.
The Dodgers’ postseason rotation appears to be taking shape with Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow lined up, which means the next two weeks will help determine whether Blake Snell can get past his left groin discomfort. That also leaves Sheehan available if needed and gives the Dodgers the option to deploy Sasaki in relief, just as they did last postseason when circumstances forced the issue.
“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.
That would echo last October, though Sasaki’s role then was born out of necessity. He had struggled as a starter, spent four months on the injured list, and returned in the final week of the regular season with no path back into the rotation.
In relief, he wasn’t overpowering - he struck out six of the 43 batters he faced and walked five - but he got the job done, allowing one run in nine appearances over 10 2/3 innings. His best moment came in the Dodgers’ NLDS Game 4 clincher against the Philadelphia Phillies, when he threw three perfect innings.
Sasaki also picked up three saves in last year’s postseason. Roberts said he likely won’t be put into a save situation immediately this week, though that could change by the time October arrives.
“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’s demotion comes after a strong run of his own. Over his previous three starts for the Dodgers, he allowed only one run and struck out 24 in 17 innings. The plan is for him to start on Saturday for Oklahoma City if the Comets reach the Triple-A championship game.
Alfonzo had been back with the Dodgers since September 6, when Dalton Rushing went on the injured list with elbow soreness. But over the next 14 games, he appeared only once, coming off the bench to pinch-hit as the designated hitter in the final stages of a 14-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out.
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