Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages is putting together a stellar breakout campaign, but his latest strategy to help the offense involves pure psychological warfare from the basepaths.
Pages turned into a major distraction for the Milwaukee Brewers' pitching staff over the weekend. After hitting a double on Saturday, Pages repeatedly flashed hand movements that mirrored pitch signals whenever Brewers left-hander Robert Gasser prepared to throw. The antics quickly drew the ire of Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who voiced suspicions to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Pages was actively relaying signs to the batter, News.Az reports, citing Dodgers Nation.
When questioned about whether he actually cracked Milwaukee's code, Pages leaned into the mystery, admitting to the Post that keeping the opposition paranoid is exactly the goal.
"It’s part of the competition, doing stuff like that, just distracting the pitcher, kind of getting him out of rhythm," Pages said. "Whether he leaves pitches over the plate or not, that has nothing to do with it... just kind of going back and forth with the pitcher."
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confessed he wasn't certain if Pages was legitimately reading the pitches or just putting on a show, but he couldn't argue with the immediate payoff: shortly after the distractions began, teammate Teoscar Hernandez blasted a definitive three-run home run. Roberts noted that while he doesn't want baserunners moving around so much that they accidentally distract their own hitters, he loves the competitive edge. "If you can make a pitcher feel like you’ve got their signs, you’ve already won," Roberts told the Post.
The psychological games are just the icing on the cake for Pages, who has emerged as one of the National League's most lethal offensive threats. While maintaining his elite center field defense, he has locked down the middle of the Dodgers' star-studded lineup.
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