While the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers were in a rain delay prior to first pitch on Tuesday, Yasiel Puig was scratched from the lineup with a sore left hamstring. Trayce Thompson moved from left field to right, and Carl Crawford started in left.
Multiple hamstring injuries last season forced Puig to disabled list and limited him to a career-low 79 games. Tuesday’s contest was the first he missed this season due a hamstring issue, though he was scratched from a Cactus League game in late March with a tight hamstring.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman instructed Puig to shed weight during the offseason, with the hope it would aid the 25-year-old outfielder in avoiding the recurring soft tissue injuries.
While Puig didn’t return to the lineup on Wednesday, he’s available as a pinch-hitter, according to ESPN’s Doug Padilla:
Yasiel Puig, who has been out of the Dodgers’ starting lineup for two consecutive days because of a sore hamstring, said before the game that he is available to pinch hit Wednesday.
Puig is batting .239/.286/.364 with four doubles, two triples, five home runs and 20 RBIs over 51 games this season. Puig was at the center of small controversy last week as he was benched over not running out of the batter’s box on what wound up being a long single off the right field fence.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called the situation a learning experience and reiterated he doesn’t harbor any frustration toward Puig.
