Andy Pages, Ryan Ward earn High-A honors

Dodgers Minor League outfielders Andy Pages and Ryan Ward ended their seasons with some well-earned awards this year. Pages was named the High-A central division MVP, while Ward made the division’s All-Star team.

Pages posted a .265 ERA with a league-leading 31 homers and 88 RBI for the Great Lakes Loons. The 20-year-old was originally meant to go to the Angels as part of the first attempted Mookie Betts trade, and he’s proven worth keeping around.

“He’s a special player, a special human,” Loons manager Austin Chubb said at the end of the season. “I’m looking forward to watch him be a Dodger for some time.”

Ward, meanwhile, batted .278 and trailed just behind his teammate with 27 homers and 84 RBI. He drew attention for his rock-solid defense early in the season and finished as one of the best-hitting prospects for L.A. across all of its affiliates.

Dodgers Links

• Nationals star Juan Soto had the time of his life cheering for former teammates Max Scherzer and Trea Turner during the Wild Card game, and Matt Kelly at MLB.com has all the details.
• Take a photographic tour of the wildest Wild Card game yet with L.A. Times photographers and pick out your new desktop background from these incredible shots.
• The Dodgers have a wide and varied fan base, including, possibly, one of FBI’s most wanted. Scott Gleeson at USA Today breaks it down.
• Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register looks at the common threads between Farhan Zaidi’s Giants front office and Andrew Friedman’s Dodgers.
• Our Eric Stephen was a guest on the FnA podcast for AM 570, previewing the NLDS between the Dodgers and Giants.