PHOENIX — Spring stats can often be as predictive as shaking a Magic 8 Ball.
But in the case of Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages, there have been signs in this camp their improvements are for real.
For most other Dodgers hitters, this year’s spring training has had a throwback feel. A long October trek and short offseason turnaround have put many veteran players on a slower progression ahead of the regular season. Cactus League appearances have been occasional, and live at-bats moderated to let them build up at their own pace.
Hernández and Pages, however, have been the exceptions.
They expressed a desire to play early and often in spring games. They wanted to quickly flush the struggles they dealt with at the end of the 2025 season. And as camp winds down this week, they’ve turned their preseasons into promising building blocks for the campaign ahead –– both batting over .400 while taking the most at-bats of any regulars on the team.
“I like to be on the field, I like to play, I like to take a lot of at-bats,” Hernández said.
“And,” he added with a smile, “it’s always good to have success.”
Success, of course, felt elusive to both players by the time last year ended.
Hernández struggled for most of 2025, posting a career-low .738 OPS while playing through a groin injury. Pages’ performance was more of a roller coaster, peaking with a nearly All-Star-caliber first half before a late-season slump led to a benching in the World Series.
Thus, each of them has used this spring as a reset.
And entering the final days of camp, they’ve been the two biggest standouts in the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup.
For Hernández, this spring was all about getting healthy, readjusting to his move back to left field, and most importantly recalibrating his swing — after batting a disappointing .247 last year, albeit while still hitting 25 home runs and collecting 89 RBIs.
The 10-year big leaguer has checked each of those boxes in camp, arriving in better shape than a year ago and proceeding to hit 15 for 31 entering play Sunday. He has flashed power, clubbing two home runs last week including an opposite-field blast reminiscent of his resurgent debut season with the Dodgers in 2024. He has also improved the quality of his at-bats, striking out just four times in his 33 plate appearances in the Cactus League.
“I think that the great players — whatever criticisms or expectations people have of them — the great ones expect more and are more critical of themselves,” manager Dave Roberts said of Hernández earlier this spring, while praising the way the two-time All-Star has attacked his work following an offseason in which he was bandied about in trade rumors.
“I’m excited to see what Teo can do this year,” he added. “Very, very excited.”
Pages’ stock might be even higher, going 13 for 32 in Cactus League play with five extra-base hits and consistent center field defense.
He’s looked more like the player who was batting .293 with 17 home runs and 58 RBIs through his first 83 games last season –– and nothing like the one who hit a woeful .078 in the playoffs before being benched for the final two games of the World Series.
His title-saving catch in Game 7 aside, October served as a reality check for the 25-year-old slugger.
So, this spring, he arrived determined to take the next step in his career.
“There was nothing offensively I was doing really well [during the playoffs],” Pages said at the start of spring. “I just want to put it in that bucket as just a really bad streak for me.”
Pages’ main focus has been on improving his plate discipline, spending roughly half an hour every day in the team’s hitting lab trying to differentiate borderline balls and strikes from a Trajekt pitching machine.
But, he has also been more intentional in his other daily work around Camelback Ranch, taking what both Roberts and Hernández have described as a more “mature” approach to everything from his gym routine to outfield drills.
“I could think back to a few years ago when he didn’t really care for the weight room and really wasn’t the best worker,” Roberts recalled. “So he has grown considerably.”
“Now, he understands the things he needs to do, and the things he’s going to go through during the season,” Hernández added. “So he can manage his body, his mind and everything else better.”
The Dodgers are hopeful both players will manage 2026 better than they did 2025.
The team might’ve spent nearly a quarter-billion dollars to shore up the outfield with the signing of Kyle Tucker, but they need Hernández and Pages to be impact producers in the bottom half of the lineup, too.
That’s why Roberts was so enthused with their aggressive spring plan –– and why their big Cactus League numbers have carried added meaning in the run-up to Opening Day.
“We’re just trying to keep that up,” Hernández said, “and do it in the season, too.”
