Andy Pages reached base twice on Saturday but was not in the game as the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off an extra-innings win against the San Francisco Giants.
Chris Taylor replaced Pages to start the 10th inning as the automatic runner placed on second base. Given Pages’ contributions, there was some reason to worry such a decision was based on a potential injury.
However, that was not the impetus behind the Dodgers having Taylor enter as a pinch-runner for Pages, who grades out more favorably in terms of sprint speed.
According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Pages did not suffer an injury and the team merely believed Taylor was a better option if a need for stealing third base arose:
Andy Pages is okay, Dave Roberts said.
The rationale: while they’re close speed-wise, he felt better about Taylor’s ability to potentially steal a base if they couldn’t advance the auto runner to third base. https://t.co/JpjMz9T1tw
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) June 30, 2024
That wound up being somewhat of a moot point, though Taylor did tag on Jason Heyward’s fly out to begin the inning. Miguel Rojas then put the Dodgers ahead with an RBI single. Taylor later contributed with the bat as well on an RBI base hit in the 11th inning.
Chris Taylor better baserunner than Andy Pages?
For all of the success Pages has enjoyed his rookie season, there have been multiple lapses on the bases. He hasn’t always made the best reads or decisions, and most recently ran into a game-ending out at home plate. Pages’ baserunning mistake was a result of not picking up the stop sign from third base coach Dino Ebel.
“I saw the center fielder bobble the ball and then I just kept going,” Pages explained through an interpreter at the time. “I knew I was going to get to third base easily but when I saw him bobble the ball, I knew I was going to try to score no matter what because I knew I was the tying run.”
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