Pages and Sasaki Are Back. The Bigger Question Is Still Unanswered.

Andy Pages and Roki Sasaki have returned from the injured list, which gives the Dodgers something they have not had much of lately: actual reinforcements. Pages, the All-Star center fielder, brings 14 home runs and 51 RBI back to an outfield that has been leaning heavily on Alex Call and Teoscar Hernández to carry the offensive weight. Sasaki slots back into a rotation that has been running on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Emmet Sheehan — a functional three-man arrangement, but not one built for October.

The timing matters. With 44 games left and a magic number of 37, the Dodgers are not scrambling for the division — they hold first in the NL West — but they are trying to arrive at the postseason as something more than a wounded team that survived. The 7-3 record over the last 10 games has been real, and the offense has picked up to 4.6 runs per game in that stretch. Pages back in center helps both sides of the ball.

Sasaki's return is more complicated. His season ERA sits at 5.15, and his WHIP has been a persistent issue. He gives the rotation a fourth arm, which is genuinely useful, but he is not walking back in as a postseason anchor. The Dodgers will take the innings.

Shohei Ohtani remains on the 15-day IL, and that is the part of this roster update that does not resolve cleanly. As a hitter, as a pitcher, as the team's most complete player — his role heading into October is still an open question. Pages and Sasaki coming back is good news. It just does not answer the one that matters most.