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After losing 7-2 Sunday in Colorado, the Dodgers return home 23-32 on the season and in last place. Sunday's starting pitcher, rookie Matt Magill, walked nine Rockies and gave up four home runs before mercifully getting to leave. (He was demoted back to the minors after the game.) The Dodgers' depleted lineup featured recent minor leaguer Scott Van Slyke hitting cleanup, rookie catcher Tim Federowicz C hitting fifth (he went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts) and four aging utility players as starters. With regulars Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, AJ Ellis and Hanley Ramirez all hurt, the Dodgers are turning next to unproven 22-year-old Cuban Yasiel Puig.
He's the organization's top prospect by most accounts, and has had a good season so far playing at Double A in Chattanooga: hitting .313 with eight homers, 13 stolen bases and 15 walks (to 29 strikeouts) in 40 games. He also has been the subject of stories in baseball media questioning his maturity to succeed as a pro athlete, let alone a major league ballplayer. He was arrested earlier this season for driving 97 miles an hour in a 50-mph zone, and got some negative coverage for tossing his bat and showing up an umpire over a strike call. "Puig has made an enormous impression with his energy and with how hard he plays. However, he also has demonstrated an inability to paint within the lines with simple stuff -- baseball decisions, yes, but also issues like showing up on time," ESPN columnist Buster Olney wrote last week.
"Out of necessity, if not urgency, Dodgers management will reluctantly promote Cuban outfield sensation Yasiel Puig to the Major Leagues on Monday," is how MLB.com's Ken Gurnick put it.
Puig was signed last summer for a staggering $42 million Major League contract. The total financial package Puig received is spread over seven years and included a Major League roster spot. At the time, the Cubs were believed to be the Dodgers' most aggressive competition for Puig's autograph.
The $42 million was considered wildly excessive by most clubs, but the Dodgers needed impact hitters in their farm system and wanted to make a statement that the years of ignoring international talent because of economics were over.With a body like Bo Jackson, Puig possesses power, running speed, ball-catching skills and a right fielder's arm. But with limited exposure as a young Cuban ballplayer, Puig's raw skills were relatively under wraps when he escaped his homeland for free agency.
Former major league general manager Jim Bowden, in his ESPN.column, recently urged the Dodgers to trade Andre Ethier and call up Puig or another young outfielder (Joc Pederson) to "inject the youth and enthusiasm this team desperately needs."
Yasiel Puig in screen grab
