The Los Angeles Dodgers caught a tough break during their weekend Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as right fielder Yasiel Puig went down with an oblique injury.
After being removed from Sunday’s game, Puig underwent an MRI, which revealed that he is dealing with a Grade 1 right oblique strain.
Puig was placed on the disabled list, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expects him to miss at least a few weeks, which is a tough break as Puig was swinging the bat at a very high level, homering in each of the last two games he played.
With Puig sidelined for the foreseeable future, Roberts said that Matt Kemp will now receive the bulk of his opportunities in right field for the time being, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
Matt Kemp will get the lion’s share of innings in right field, Dave Roberts said.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) July 9, 2018
Kemp has seen the brunt of his time in left field this season, having appeared at the position in 56 games. However, he has also gotten some reps in right field as well, receiving 23 starts there thus far. He started there in each of the Dodgers first two games against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
When Puig is able to return, he will look to pick up where he left off at the plate. After a terrific month of June in which he hit .303/.367/.604 with two doubles and five home runs, Puig was slashing .348/.348/.739 with already five extra-base hits in 23 July plate appearances.
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