Dodgers Activate Roki Sasaki And Andy Pages Before Padres Series
The Dodgers are getting two important players back for the final week of the regular season.
Los Angeles activated Roki Sasaki from the 15-day injured list and Andy Pages from the 10-day injured list Monday, one day before opening a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
Emmet Sheehan and Eliezer Alfonzo were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the corresponding active-roster moves.
Pages returns to the Dodgers’ outfield after missing 27 games with a fractured left hand, while Sasaki will move into the bullpen as Los Angeles evaluates whether he can help its pitching staff in October.
Pages Returns After Missing One Month
Pages suffered the fracture when he was hit by a pitch during the Dodgers’ August series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He initially remained in the game but was later removed. The injury ultimately kept him out for approximately one month.
Pages completed his hitting progression and participated in a simulated game before receiving clearance to return.
His activation gives the Dodgers their regular center fielder back for the final six games of the regular season.
Pages was batting .272 with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs across 128 games when he was injured. He had also been selected to his first All-Star team earlier in the season.
The Dodgers used multiple players in center field during his absence, including Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández. Josue De Paula also received opportunities in the corner outfield after being promoted from Double-A.
Pages’ return allows Dave Roberts to restore a more familiar defensive alignment while adding another right-handed hitter to the lineup.
The final week will also give Pages an opportunity to regain his timing before the postseason begins. Simulated at-bats can prepare a hitter physically, but they cannot completely replicate the velocity, pitch movement and game situations he will face against Major League pitching.
Sasaki Will Return From The Bullpen
Sasaki had been on the injured list since August 27 because of a blister on his right middle finger.
He faced hitters during multiple simulated outings while rebuilding his workload, including four simulated innings on September 16. The Dodgers initially considered bringing him back as a starter to preserve their rotation depth.
That plan has changed.
Sasaki will instead work out of the bullpen during the Padres series as the Dodgers evaluate him for a potential postseason relief role.
Dave Roberts has indicated that Sasaki could pitch more than one inning when circumstances allow, but the Dodgers are not preparing to use him as a traditional four- or five-inning bulk reliever.
Roberts also expressed confidence in Sasaki’s ability to handle meaningful situations.
“I trust him,” Roberts said Sunday.
That does not mean Sasaki will immediately be handed the ninth inning or that he has secured a place in the postseason bullpen.
The Dodgers have only six regular-season games remaining to evaluate how his pitches respond to shorter appearances, how quickly he can recover and whether his command is sharp enough for October.
Sasaki Still Must Earn His October Role
Sasaki’s return adds another possibility to a bullpen the Dodgers are still trying to organize.
Edwin Díaz is attempting to establish himself after an uneven rehabilitation assignment. Kris Bubic recently returned from the injured list, while Emmet Sheehan strengthened his own postseason case with 5⅓ scoreless innings against San Francisco before being optioned.
Sasaki offers a different profile because of his starting background and ability to miss bats, but the Dodgers still need to see how effectively he transitions to relief.
Shorter appearances may allow him to pitch with greater intensity without needing to pace himself through a full start. They also create the possibility of using him against the most dangerous section of an opposing lineup rather than assigning him a fixed inning.
Those are possibilities the Dodgers will explore—not roles Sasaki has already earned.
Dodgers Add Depth Before Final Home Series
The timing of both activations gives Los Angeles nearly a full week to make evaluations before postseason rosters are finalized.
Pages needs at-bats after a 27-game absence. Sasaki needs game action in an unfamiliar bullpen role.
The Dodgers can now begin answering those questions against a San Diego team preparing for its own postseason run.
Pages is returning to a position he occupied throughout the season. Sasaki is beginning an audition for something different.
Both players are healthy enough to rejoin the Dodgers, but the final six games will determine how prepared they are—and how they might be used—once October begins.