Cary Edmondson-USA Today Sports
If you are a baseball fan and haven’t heard of Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Yasiel Puig, you’re probably not actually much of a fan. Puig has been in the majors for a little over a month now and has become an instant superstar.
Puig is a five tool phenom who plays the game how it should be played. He can run, hit for both power and average, throw, and field at a high rate.
In Puig’s 33 games played, the Dodgers are 20-13 and are now 43-45 on the season. He has turned their season around since being called up, and has to been in the National League MVP discussion despite sitting out more than a quarter of the season.
He is the definition of MVP for the Dodgers. Not only is he a good player, but he is also exciting to watch. Puig is hitting and outstanding .409 through his first 33 games as a major leaguer, but that doesn’t stand out as much as his power numbers.
In just 33 games he has eight home runs and 19 runs batted in. 17 of his 54 hits have been for extra bases and he has stolen five bases on eight attempts.
If Puig put up these numbers over the rest of the season and the Dodgers make the playoffs, he is definitely on the road to being the NL MVP. But if his numbers slide a little, the time he missed from being in Double-A will cost him the chance of winning the award as a rookie.
