Andy Pages injury somehow leaves Dodgers with no answers despite top outfield prospects

At this year's trade deadline, all everybody heard about was the stacked Dodgers farm system and the fact LA had a surplus of elite outfield depth among their prospects. They used one of those assets in Zyhir Hope to trade for Tigers superstar Tarik Skubal.

But, somehow, after Andy Pages suffered a hand fracture on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Dodgers can't really use any of their options in the minor leagues. Despite being able to keep all of Josue De Paula, Mike Sirota, Eduardo Quintero, Charles Davalan and James Tibbs III, there isn't much flexibility at the moment.

All of Sirota, Quintero and Davalan aren't close enough to MLB, so they were never really going to be considered. But with rosters expanding on Sept. 1, everybody had their eyes on De Paula and Tibbs III as possible call ups.

De Paula is on the verge of graduating to Triple-A while Tibbs III has been raking at Oklahoma City all year. The problem? Neither play center field, and the Dodgers don't have the versatility at the big league level to accommodate them.

That's why you can probably expect an Alek Thomas promotion at some point on Saturday as the Dodgers look to address Pages' extended absence.

Andy Pages' injury and how it affects the Dodgers' 2026 roster

The Dodgers are stuck with Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker as corner outfield options (and underwhelming defensive ones, at that). Neither has the capability to move to center field, so the Dodgers are probably looking at some combination of Thomas (if he's promoted), Kiké Hernandez, Tommy Edman and Alex Call.

De Paula and Tibbs III are firmly corner outfielders at this point. De Paula last played center field in 2023, and same goes for Tibbs III (who did in the Cape Cod league and never as a pro). In fact, Tibbs has played 41 games at first base this year compared to 48 in the outfield between left and right.

The Dodgers' main concern right now is holding down the fort on defense since Pages is one of the best center fielders in the game. He's accumulated 2.3 dWAR and has been good for nine outs above average, which only ranks behind Pete Crow-Armstrong (23), Ceddanne Rafaela (14), Jacob Young (12), Tristian Peters (11) and Michael Harris II (10).

Every fan knows how valuable the 2026 All-Star has been on both sides of the ball and expected him to be an X-factor come October.

Injuries are killing the Dodgers at the moment, but they still lead the NL West by nine games and only trail the NL-leading Brewers by two. Pages' loss will be impactful and there is no true replacement for his defense or offense (he has 21 homers, 80 RBI and a 121 OPS+).

This is where you need your most promising top prospects to fill in. Unfortunately, despite their embarrassment of riches, the Dodgers can't make it happen. Any other injury in the outfield would've allowed them to do so. They'll just have to finish out August before they can get a look at any young player they were looking to promote.

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