Andy Pages is utilized to beating the chances, and he’s

Maturing on the western pointer of Cuba, Andy Pages stood out at every sport he played.He was excellent

at soccer and volleyball, arguably better at basketball. However he enjoyed baseball for reasons that weren’t necessarily limited to the game.Advertisement Pages

‘dad, Liban

, a carpenter who had a job repairing wood boats, helped make his son’s very first bats by hand, using leftover lumber given to him by friends. Soon baseball became the young boy’s favorite leisure activity.

“When I was starting to play baseball in Cuba, when things were truly bad, there were no bats. There weren’t things like that,” Pages stated in Spanish. “So he always tried to make me a bat so I could play.

“I became more inspired, and from that point on, we’ve been playing baseball.”

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The sport ultimately showed to be a method off the island for Pages, who has become among the Dodgers’ brightest stars in simply his 2nd season with the team.Advertisement He got in

the start of a three-game series Monday in San Diego striking.288 with 12 crowning achievement and 39 RBIs, tracking just Shohei Ohtani in homers and matching Ohtani for third on the team in RBIs. He’s also connected for 2nd in taken bases with 6 and has yet to be tossed out.If he can remain constant, he has a possibility to end up being the very first Dodger center fielder to hit much better than.250 with 23 homers given that Matt Kemp in 2012. Although Pages never ever played in Cuba’s elite Serie Nacional, the proving ground for stars

such as Yuli Gurriel, Yunel Escobar and Orlando”El Duque “Hernández, he became one of the country’s top prospects after striking.364/.484/.581 in a under-15 league. Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages rifles the ball to second base to prevent Arizona’s Ketel Marte from bearing down a single at Dodger Stadium on May 20. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

That persuaded Pages (pronounced PAH-hays) he had a possibility to be a big leaguer some day. So at 16, the Athletic reported, he set up to be spirited off the island together with Jairo Pomares, another young Cuban star, traveling through Guyana, Curacao and Haiti before crossing in the Dominican Republic. He then waited eight months before the Dodgers signed him as an international free agent in March 2018, offering him a $300,000 perk, more than 1,500 times the average annual wage in Cuba, according to CiberCuba.Advertisement Pomares signed with the San Francisco Giants at about the same time, however while he stays in the minors, Pages ‘climb to the majors was constant. He reached triple A by the start the 2024 season. He didn’t stay at Oklahoma City long, nevertheless, hitting.371/.452/.694 with 15 RBIs in 15 games to earn a call-up to the Dodgers.Before his novice season was over, Pages was a World Series champion. He paid a heavy rate for that though, going 7 years without seeing his family in person.Read more:’Huge sibling, little bro.’How Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages bond is assisting Dodgers” It was emotional because I hadn’t seen them for a long time, “stated Pages, 24, who returned to Cuba for the first time the winter before his big-league debut.Advertisement His sibling, Elaine, a child when he left “was already a full-grown female.” “So those memories came back to me, and they were quite– how should I say it?– quite strong for me, “said Pages, who brought his father a few of the industrial bats he used in the minor leagues.But if his father offered the stimulate that made his son a baseball player, colleague Teoscar Hernández offered the assistance, assistance and mentoring that made Pages a daily major leaguer.”He’s played in the major leagues for a long time now, “Pages stated of Hernández, a 10-year veteran who signed with the Dodgers months before Pages made his big-league debut.

“He’s been through a lot of hard times. I went through that at the start of the season, for example, and last year too. And he’s offered me guidance that’s helped me a lot to get through that time. “Advertisement With Pages’ family still in Cuba, Hernández has actually ended up being a big bro along with a teammate, taking him out for supper on off days or simply getting together to play video

games. Andy Pages runs the bases after hitting a solo crowning achievement versus the Athletics at Dodger Stadium on Might 14.(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)”Surviving hard times is in some cases a little challenging when you

‘re alone, when you don’t have anybody to assist you, to offer you excellent advice, and to make you comprehend that sometimes things don’t occur when you desire them to,”Pages said.And that’s exercised well for Pages. 3 games after Hernández returned from a rehab task last month, Pages started a streak in which he struck in 13 of his next 14 starts, including 11 in a row, raising his average 24 indicate.293. He’s batting.379 with a team-high 11 hits in 7 games this month.Advertisement “We attempt to go out to my home. We go out to a restaurant with my partner, his spouse. Just so we can get together, have time to take pleasure in and not think of baseball,” Hernández said.Pages isn’t the very first player to take advantage of Hernández’s mentorship. During his 6 seasons in Toronto, Hernández took another gifted novice, fellow

Dominican Vladimir

Guerrero Jr., under his wing. Guerrero is now a four-time All-Star. Hernández is still so respected in Toronto when the Dodgers played there last season, some Blue Jays players wore his old uniform number throughout batting practice. Earlier this year Guerrero offered to purchase him a$300,000 Richard Mille watch; Hernández joked he ‘d rather have cash instead.Read more: Will Dodgers’pitchers ever get healthy? How the team is tackling its most significant problem

Ad As the quiet Pages has actually grown more confident and comfortable with the Dodgers, his play has actually improved. A speedy outfielder with a plus arm, he likewise can play all three positions.And while he left Cuba, he never ever totally left it behind, having actually revealed interest in representing the country in next year’s

World Baseball Classic. The decision to go to the Dominican Republic as a teenager, after all, was an organization one, not a personal one.Pages would also like to bring his household to U.S. some day, though that dream was dealt a problem recently when President Trump signed an executive order restricting access to Cubans intending to come to the U.S.” Hope is constantly there,”stated Pages, who has beaten impossibly long shots when.” But you need to follow the guidelines, get the documents, do whatever it requires to make sure everything’s OK. And then get here and stay here.”I’m just trying, trying up until they can leave. “Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Provided at the start of