Richard Mackson – USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers (26-33) have been stuck in the basement of the NL West for nearly the entire season. And although they still reside in the NL West cellar, rookie outfielder Yasiel Puig has the team heating up with the weather.
Puig, the 22-year-old Cuban rookie sensation, was called up on June 3 and has given Dodgers fans much to cheer about. Not only has he hit three home runs in his first four games, but he has helped the Dodgers win three of those four games.
In just 16 at-bats this season, Puig has collected seven hits, three of which have been of the home run variety. In fact, the only game that the Dodgers have lost since Puig was called up, a 6-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on June 5, was the only game in which he failed to record a hit.
One area for concern is that Puig has struck out three times and has failed to draw a walk. Four games is a rather small sample size, so his walk-to-strikeout ratio will be something to follow going forward this season, but I digress.
Puig has sparked life back into the Dodgers, who are currently 7.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the lead in the NL West. With over 100 games left in the season for the Dodgers, they definitely have time to catch up to Diamondbacks, but the sooner the better.
The Dodgers have three more home games against the Atlanta Braves this weekend and then host the Diamondbacks in a three-game series starting Monday. They have a chance to seriously cut into the Diamondbacks’ division lead, but the question will continue to be if Puig can continue breathing life into the Dodgers, or if he’s just had some astounding beginner’s luck.
Frank Gogola is a sports editor intern for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @FrankGogola.
