Pages, Ramos continue to shine and grow in the desert
PEORIA, Ariz. -- They’re far from identical, but it’s hard not to see the similarities between Dodgers outfield prospects Andy Pages and Jose Ramos.
There’s the obvious in terms of them playing in the same organization, both being outfielders and future Latino superstars -- with Pages coming from Cuba and Ramos hailing from Panama. The pair are both in the Dodgers’ Top 10: Pages is on the overall Top 100 at No. 66 and No. 5 on the Dodgers’ Top 30 while Ramos isn’t far behind at No. 8. They’re less than a month apart age-wise, too. Pages turns 22 in early December while Ramos joins him on Jan. 1. And both are here playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.
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The two right-handed-hitting outfielders have pretty similar profiles. Both have serious raw power that shows up in games as evidenced by their ISO (slugging percentage – batting average). Pages has the slight edge, .232 to .230, averages that would have put them in the top 20 among Major League hitters in 2022.
That showed up in Glendale’s 4-3 win against Peoria on Thursday afternoon. Pages hit his third home run of the fall in the top of the third with two aboard to give Glendale a 3-1 lead. Ramos followed up with his first homer in the sixth, which extended the Desert Dogs’ lead to 4-2. Both were hit hard and far, but Ramos won the Trackman competition, with his blast coming off the bat faster (110 vs. 106 mph) and landing farther (452 feet vs. 413). And they clearly enjoy sharing the outfield and hitting 3-4 in the lineup, as they did on Thursday.
“Before the game, I said to him, ‘We have to hit a homer,’” said Pages, who added an eighth-inning single to bring his average up to .278 with the three homers and six RBIs this fall. “That happened and I’m happy for that.
“We have a lot of fun because we’re both Latin. We come from the same culture. We have fun every time we play.”
“It’s more comfortable for me,” said Ramos, who followed Pages’ single with one of his own and is now hitting .379 and also has six RBIs. “I’ve known him for a long time so it’s really comfortable to play with him.”
Pages signed with the Dodgers in the fall of 2017; Ramos joined the organization the following July. That head start has allowed Pages to be at least a rung ahead of Ramos. Pages spent all of the 2022 season with Double-A Tulsa and finished with 31 homers and a .933 OPS. Ramos started the year with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and quickly earned a promotion up to High-A Great Lakes. He mashed a combined 25 homers.
“When I came to the United States, they compared me to him,” Ramos said. “I thought that was good for me and I try to be like him.”
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It very much feels like an older brother-younger brother kind of situation, even if they are basically the same age. But Pages is older in terms of his baseball resume and when he tries to impart wisdom, Ramos listens.
“Last year, we talked about not trying to do too much,” Pages said. “Just be you and go from there.”
“He’s helping me and has more experience than me. Anything he tells me, I try to take it as a positive thing and try to do it.”
So when Pages suggested they both homer, Ramos clearly was game. There’s no one-upmanship here at all, or any hint of a rivalry. Just another exciting pair of Dodgers prospects trying to hit their way to Los Angeles, hopefully together.
“We had a good year this year, both of us, and we try to do the best we can,” Pages said.
“We don’t compete with each other. We’re just having fun and doing the best we can,” Ramos echoed.