Dodgers Players With Most to Prove for Rest of 2024 Season

The Los Angeles Dodgers have done a nice job navigating injuries early in the 2024 season to once again sit atop the NL West standings, but losing star Mookie Betts was a major blow, and they are still waiting on the starting rotation to get fully healthy.

Those injuries have opened the door for several young players to make their mark, while also putting more pressure on the incumbent players to shoulder the load.

Whether it's an underperforming or injured star, an upcoming free agent, or a breakout performer at a key position who needs to maintain his current level of production, there are many reasons a player might have something to prove.

Ahead we've highlighted three such players on the Dodgers roster.

Even before Mookie Betts landed on the injured list, the middle infield was already a question mark for the Dodgers as a result of the slow start that Gavin Lux has gotten off to at second base.

After a breakout 2022 season, Lux spent the entire 2023 campaign watching from the sidelines after suffering a torn ACL during spring training.

His defensive struggles this spring led to him shifting from shortstop back to second base, but he has had a tough time getting in the swing of things offensively, hitting .211/.261/.284 for a 56 OPS+ with only 10 extra-base hits in 207 plate appearances.

The 26-year-old getting his season on track would allow the Dodgers to focus their attention elsewhere at the trade deadline.

Tyler Glasnow has been a bona fide ace atop the Dodgers rotation this year, but the rest of the staff behind him has been something of a revolving door of young players and various veterans returning from injury.

Now that Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the injured list, there's a legitimate question of who would follow Glasnow in the rotation if the playoffs started today.

Right-hander Bobby Miller is poised to return from his own trip to the injured list with shoulder inflammation on Wednesday, and he could be the answer to that question while the Dodgers continue to wait on the return of Clayton Kershaw and several others.

Miller, 25, made just three starts this year before he was sidelined, but he was 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 119 strikeouts in 124.1 innings as a rookie while flashing the stuff to suggest he might one day soon emerge as an ace.

It's been a roller coaster ride for Andy Pages as he settles into life in the big leagues after making his MLB debut on April 16.

• First 16 games: 70 PA, .339/.357/.600, 9 XBH (4 HR), 12 RBI
• Next 20 games: 78 PA, .123/.167/.178, 2 XBH (1 HR), 4 RBI
• Last 19 games: 75 PA, .344/.440/.531, 6 XBH (3 HR), 5 RBI

The 23-year-old has staked his claim to a starting spot in the Dodgers outfield, but he has the potential to be a legitimate difference maker in the second half if he can find more consistency at the plate.

With a 31-homer season at High-A in 2021 and a 26-homer, 80-RBI follow-up performance at Double-A in 2022, his raw power stacks up to any young player in the game.