Andy Pages has been an impactful force for the Dodgers this season, though you might not realize it at first. He’s got the second-highest number of home runs on the team (after Shohei Ohtani, of course) and ranks in the top four for RBI, batting average, stolen bases, and total bases.
There’s something else that sets him apart from other players, though: Unlike most, his family isn’t able to sit in the stands and watch him play. They live in Cuba, and travel restrictions between the U.S. and its Caribbean neighbor make visits nearly impossible. Since Pages defected, he’d have a seriously tough time making a visit of his own.
As one of Cuba’s top prospects, Pages knew he had a shot at Major League Baseball. He and fellow ballplayer Jairo Pomares, who plays for the San Francisco Giants’ double-A team, made their way through Guyana, Curacao, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic before they were able to sign with major-league teams. Since then, Pages has been back to Cuba once, in the winter of 2023.
Miguel Rojas understands the struggle. Travel between the U.S. and Venezuela, where his father and sister live, is similarly complicated.
“But we signed up for this,” Rojas said. “We are professional baseball players. We want to kind of follow our dream and I’m pretty sure his family’s dream was for [Pages] to play in the big leagues. He’s accomplishing something that is really cool, not just for him but for his family.”
That doesn’t make things much easier, especially as other players disperse from the team’s recent champagne celebrations to soak in the moment with their own families. But it’s a source of motivation and strength nonetheless.
“We have to keep going and we’re going to make them proud, right?” Pages said.
The Dodgers built their dream rotation, then reworked it over and over this season as starters fell victim to injuries. Now, all four starting pitchers are healthy and ready to roll in the World Series. Manny Randhawa at MLB.com takes a look at how Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow have performed so far and gives a preview of their World Series performances.
As fans across baseball complain about the Dodgers’ deep pockets, Gabe Lacques at USA Today reminds us that it took more than money to build this team—it also took strategic trades, faith in homegrown prospects, and dedication to turning struggling players into stars.
