LOS ANGELES -- When the Dodgers played their final must-win World Series games in Toronto last autumn, Andy Pages was left out of the starting lineups. That's become part of the lens through which his 2025 season is viewed, but a poor ending should not necessarily mean that the entire body of work gets overlooked.
Pages hit more home runs (27) than any Dodger not named Shohei Ohtani and established himself as a solid defender in center field during the regular season, but he completely dropped off at the plate during the playoffs, posting a .211 OPS that was the lowest on record in a single postseason (min. 50 plate appearances).
On a night that began with the Dodgers raising their 2025 World Series banner and celebrating their back-to-back championships, Pages showed that the dismal end to last year is behind him by hitting a go-ahead three-run homer in Thursday’s 8-2 Opening Day win over the D-backs at Dodger Stadium.
Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed a quality start in his season debut, only surrendering a two-run homer across six strong innings, but the Dodgers’ offense took some time to wake up. D-backs starter Zac Gallen allowed a leadoff single to Ohtani but retired 12 of his next 13 batters.
It wasn't until the fifth inning that the floodgates opened for the Dodgers.
Third baseman Max Muncy and left fielder Teoscar Hernández led off the frame with back-to-back base hits. Pages followed by crushing the Dodgers’ first home run of their three-peat bid into the Left Field Pavilion seats. The Dodgers kept the pressure on from there, chasing Gallen after he allowed his fifth straight batter to reach without recording an out in the fifth, and added another run on a Will Smith RBI single.
L.A. scored eight unanswered runs after being down 2-0 through four innings.
The addition of top free agent Kyle Tucker -- who got in on the fun with his first Dodgers hit, an RBI double in the seventh inning -- considerably lengthened L.A.'s lineup. That Pages, a real power threat, is hitting in the eighth spot in the order is a testament to how dangerous the lineup can be from top to bottom.