Heading into the 2016 season Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts were optimistic Yasiel Puig would rebound from a down year where he was consistently plagued by hamstring injuries.
While the 25-year-old outfielder has largely remained healthy — he missed time in June due to a strained hamstring — his production at the plate has been inconsistent. However, Puig appears to have turned a corner since being reinstated from the disabled list.
“I think the at-bat quality is considerably better than it was prior to him going on the DL,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently said. “The wild swings outside of the zone are considerably less and I think he’s going to continue to get better.”
That’s not to say Roberts doesn’t see an area where Puig can improve. “I think the next step is hitting the fastball. A lot of the balls he’s hitting and driving are off-speed,” the rookie manager said.
“You still have to hit off the fastball. Sometimes he’s a little late or might be sitting soft in certain situations.” He owns a .375 BABIP on four-seam fastballs and .333 BABIP on cutters since coming off the DL.
Entering play on Friday, Puig is batting .308/.390/.362 with two doubles, two home runs, six RBIs, five walks and nine strikeouts in 16 games (14 starts) after his stint on the DL.
Included in that is Puig scoring on his own two-run single that included a three-base error by Washington Nationals center fielder Michael A. Taylor, which gave the Dodgers a walk-off victory.
The race around the bases was emphatic proof Puig’s hamstring trouble was behind him. As for hitting with power and reaching base, Roberts believes that too will come.
“I think there’s going to be some more slug in there and the on-base will continue to go up, as far as taking a walk when you need to walk,” Roberts said to sum up his assessment of where Puig will improve.
