Little did the Dodgers know when they called up Yasiel Puig last season that he would become the spark that L.A. needed to go on an amazing run in which they had a 46-10 record from the 22nd of June to the 23rd of August. The Cuban native showed a great skill set as he displayed clutch hitting, blazing speed, and a cannon for an arm. He definitely has the tools to be a successful everyday player, maybe even a superstar. Though the question is, can Puig maintain his level of play throughout a 10+ year career and join a list of elite players?
The quick turnaround the Dodgers had last season, the media, and the fact that Puig plays in a big sports city like Los Angeles shot Puig to the top of the world, making him one of the most popular athletes at the time. Let’s go back to August 21, 2013, the Dodgers were still playing great baseball and they had total control of their division with a 8.5 game lead over the Diamondbacks. At that time Puig had played through 68 games, and here comes the scary part, his stats and style of play resemble just about what Jeff Francoeur did with the Atlanta Braves.
Jeff Francoeur played 70 games in 2005, his rookie season. He finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting. Puig played 104 games in his rookie season last year, and he finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting. Both Francoeur and Puig are right fielders, have tremendous arms, and have terrible plate discipline.
Now looking back at the comparisons of the previously mentioned date of August 21, 2013, Puig had played 68 games, he had a .352 batting average with 12 home runs and 28 runs batted in. Francoeur in his first 7o games had a .300 batting average with 14 home runs and 45 runs batted in. Very similar if you ask me, but let’s look more into detail. Puig had a .979 OPS, 92 hits, .567 slugging percentage, 16 doubles, 6 outfield assists, and 68 strikeouts. While Francoeur had a .884 OPS, 77 hits, .549 slugging percentage, 20 doubles, 13 outfield assists and 58 strikeouts.
Francoeur has always had bad plate discipline and yet had 10 less strikeouts than Puig throughout about the same amount of games, that’s a stat to be concerned about. Puig is entering his second season, this will be a test to see if he can make adjustments to protect the holes he still has in his swing. Another thing to look at is his way of playing the game which reminds me a little of the recently passed away Ryan Freel. While it’s great to see when players give it their all, it could lead to many injuries if Puig continues to slide head first into first base and keeps crashing into walls.
The tools are there for Puig, he has everything to be a great player, but he has to learn and gain experience throughout the way. With the way today’s game is with the needs of teams, I don’t think he will have the same ending as Jeff Francoeur, but he has to continue to work on his flaws and his attitude. It will be interesting to see how he develops this season, if he goes into any kind of tear as he did last year, I think he will have shown that he will be able to keep it up and have a very successful career, but for now it is still very soon and only time will tell whether Puig can consolidate himself.