Dodgers’ Andy Pages suffers fractured hand, will ‘be out for a while’

Andy Pages didn’t show any pain initially.

But after getting drilled in his left hand by a 100 mph fastball on Friday night, the Dodgers center fielder had suffered a serious injury.

According to manager Dave Roberts, Pages sustained a fracture on the back of his hand that will keep him “out for a while.” Roberts said the injury is not expected to be season-ending, but could sideline him for up to 4-5 weeks. While it is not yet known if Pages will need surgery, Roberts said his timeline shouldn’t be impacted either way.

“There’s still time in the season for him to be back,” Roberts said. “But I feel for him, because he was having such a good year and he likes to play. But yeah, we’ve got to move on and hold down the fort until he’s back.”

It was in the bottom of the third inning in the Dodgers’ 5-4 walk-off win over the Pittsburgh Pirates that Pages was struck square in the back of his hand by a 100.2 mph sinker from right-hander Bubba Chandler.

At first, the 25-year-old slugger tried to play the painful moment off.

He immediately walked out of the batter’s box, quickly removed his batting gloves, then walked straight to first base as manager Dave Roberts and a trainer came out to check on him.

Pages tried to shoo them away at first, and ultimately talked his way into staying in the game for the rest of the inning.

In the fourth, he even went out to play center field, before finally being removed at the beginning of the fifth to return to the clubhouse for further evaluation.

After the game, Pages’ left hand was wrapped in a large cast.

Roberts, meanwhile, was huddled with front office members inside his office, trying to determine how the team would replace its All-Star center fielder.

“You’ve got to be mindful of the defense, certainly in center field,” Roberts said. “We’ll piece it together. I’m not sure right now, but I do think that the main thing is locking down center field.”

Hernández provides one obvious option to get playing time in center. Tommy Edman could be an option as well, Roberts said, though it’s unclear if the team would feel comfortable playing him there regularly after he had surgery on his ankle this past offseason.

In triple-A, the Dodgers have only one center fielder currently on their 40-man roster: Alek Thomas, whom they acquired in a trade earlier this season after he was DFA’d by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Regardless of what they do, however, they’ll have a tough replacing Pages’ bat.

Entering Friday, the 25-year-old was hitting .272 with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs.

Now, he has to hope his season isn’t over, with his fractured hand representing a major blow for both himself and the team.

Said Roberts: “It’s just really unfortunate.”

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