Andy Pages bolsters his All-Star bid in Dodgers

It was Andy Pages’ spouse, Alondra, who told the Dodgers’ heart fielder on June 3 that MLB All-Star voting had opened.

“I simply just told her, [the ballots] don’t really matter to me,” Pages said through interpreter Juan Dorado, in a dialog with The Times earlier this month. “I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Doing just that has labored out effectively for Pages. When MLB launched the first All-Star balloting update Monday, Pages led all National League outfielders with 800,496 fan votes, placing him in prime place to declare a starter’s spot.

He has added to his All-Star case against the Baltimore Orioles this weekend, largely with his protection. In the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss Saturday, he authored his third highlight-worthy play of the sequence. Ranging into proper discipline, Pages tracked down a line drive off Tyler Ward’s bat and made a sliding catch for the first out of the third inning.

The day before, on the first play of the sport, Pages cut off Ward’s hit to the right-field hole before it might attain the warning monitor, spun, and threw a dart to second base to nab him making an attempt to stretch a single into a double.

Dodgers followers chanted Pages’ title in the sixth inning Friday, after he robbed Jeremiah Jackson of a hit with another sliding grab in shallow left-center discipline.

“He’s going to be in that Gold Glove conversation,” supervisor Dave Roberts said Saturday. “He’s engaged every pitch. It’s just fun to see a young player value the defense, all the while taking care of business in the batters’ box. He’s a complete player, he really is.”

Phase 1 of All-Star fan voting, which lasts until June 25, determines the starter finalists — two at each place (six outfielders) in each league. Pitchers and reserves are chosen through the participant poll (which incorporates votes from gamers, coaches and managers) and commissioner’s workplace alternatives.

Pages was one of 4 Dodgers main their respective place teams, joined by first baseman Freddie Freeman, third baseman Max Muncy and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who led all gamers with 1,165,133 votes. Catcher Will Smith and shortstop Mookie Betts had been sitting in second place, and Teoscar Hernández was No. 5 among NL outfielders.

The others have all gained a number of All-Star nods. This can be Pages’ first.

He entered Saturday with top-five defensive fWAR (4.9) among NL outfielders and a top-nine slugging proportion (.490). He carried the Dodgers’ offense early in the yr, while the staff’s established stars bought off to a slow offensive start.

“It would mean a lot to me for all the work, and all the things that I do to get ready for the game and to prepare,” Pages said. “It would mean a lot in that sense. But I also know it’s completely out of my control, especially having gone through it last year, where I didn’t really have any chance to dictate whether I was going to make it or if I didn’t make it.”

Going into the All-Star break last yr, Pages was on the cusp. Because the outfield pool doesn’t take particular positions into account, it didn’t matter that among certified National League heart fielders he had the second-highest fWAR (2.8) and OPS (.804), behind the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong — while main that group in batting average (.285).

Pages was instead competing with all NL outfielders. In those same classes he still ranked an spectacular eighth and tenth (among certified hitters).

Fans voted in Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs’ Kyle Tucker and the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. as All-Star starters. So, Pages’ All-Star destiny was in the fingers of the participant poll (which incorporates votes from gamers, managers and coaches) and the commissioner’s workplace choice course of.

Pages didn’t fairly make the cut, with the Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll, the Marlins’ Kyle Stowers, the Padres’ Fernando Tatís Jr. and the Nationals’ James Wood claiming the reserve spots.

This yr is already taking part in out otherwise.

“He’s been just up the top of the leaderboards, one of our better hitters the whole season,” hitting coach Aaron Bates said earlier this month. “It’s not just a good two or three weeks. So I definitely feel like he’s an All-Star.”

Still, when the ballots first got here out, Pages knew better than to make any assumptions. That same focus on controllables, turning the web page on from failure, has helped spur Pages’ consistency.

“The work ethic, obviously, those changes, and how I prepare for the games has changed a lot,” Pages said. “But also, I just don’t really focus on anything like I used to. I just focus on getting ready and prepared and do the best I can that day.”

Roberts had seen that shift. He seen all the work Pages put in over the offseason and through the spring, drilling down on his plate self-discipline, a gentle spot in his sport. And Roberts named Pages his decide to click on at the end of camp, saying he wouldn’t be stunned if Pages made the All-Star staff.

Since then, Roberts, who will also handle the NL All-Star staff, has appreciated how diligent Pages has remained in his routine.

“As we all know, he’s not a self-promoter at all,” Roberts said. “He just wants to play baseball, and so for the fans to recognize that, they’re getting it right, as far as the person, the talent, the performance. And so that’s really good to see. So hopefully he can keep playing well, and then solidify that No. 1 spot. That’d be fun. That’ll be fun to have him in Philly with me.”

Dodgers fall to Orioles

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Orioles in the fourth inning Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Ohtani hit a solo home run in the ninth inning in his first sport back after lacking Friday’s walk-off win for the delivery of his second baby, but it wasn’t enough to ignite a ninth-inning comeback.

Dodgers beginning pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t put together as dominant of a efficiency as he did a week in the past against the White Sox, when he took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning.

He gave up six hits and issued two walks in six innings. But he managed to maintain the Orioles (36-42) to three runs, getting out of jams in the second and fourth innings.

The Dodgers (49-28) wasted the standard start with a four-hit offensive night time, which included two from Tommy Edman and one from Betts.

The Dodgers finally recorded their only hit against Orioles starter Trevor Rogers in the fifth inning, when Edman reached on a weak pop fly to heart discipline. Rogers turned the sport over to the Orioles’ bullpen after the seventh, and it did enough to keep the lead, despite shaky protection in the ninth.

Blake Treinen positioned on injured listing

Dodgers reduction pitcher Blake Treinen delivers against the San Francisco Giants on May 11.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers put right-handed reliever Blake Treinen on the 15-day injured listing with proper elbow inflammation.

Treinen was the profitable pitcher in the Dodgers’ 6-5 victory Friday, after retiring the facet in order in the top of the ninth. It was not immediately clear, when the Dodgers announced the transfer a little over an hour before the sport, when or how Treinen sustained the injury.

Treinen has a 3.52 ERA after bouncing back from a rocky 2025.

In a corresponding transfer, the Dodgers recalled right-hander Chayce McDermott. The 27-year-old has only thrown one major-league inning this season, when he restricted the Angels to one hit in a scoreless inning.

The Dodgers acquired McDermott from the Orioles in mid-April, after Baltimore designated him for project. He’s been a frequent short-term call-up and taxi squad member since.

The Dodgers have more bullpen help coming. They hope to reinstate right-hander Brock Stewart (left foot bone spur) from the injured listing Monday, Roberts said. And right-hander Evan Phillips (Tommy John surgical procedure) is predicted to return in early July.