Yasiel Puig – Page 5 – Dodger Thoughts

By Jon Weisman

Now that all the hoopla of Saturday’s FanFest has given way to rain, wind and an element to be named later, let’s check in on the latest with a few of your intrepid Dodger heroes.

Yasiel Puig

About three feet in front of me Saturday, near the FanFest stage, Dave Roberts and Yasiel Puig shared an enthusiastic hello and embrace. When I tweeted this, I was met with some skepticism, but the relationship ball is rolling, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

“I just had a good sit-down with him,” Roberts said. “It was refreshing for me to have a good face-to-face with him, to talk about our vision, and it’s more of, ‘Let’s wipe the slate clean’ and everything’s new. There’s the same core of players but a completely new coaching staff, and we just want him to be himself and let’s start fresh.”

Riddle me this, Yasiel Puig

By Jon Weisman

On January 9, 2016

In Hitting

By Jon Weisman

If you think you’ve got a firm idea of how Yasiel Puig will perform in 2016, you’re kidding yourself.

Cuban reunions and revelations for Puig, Kershaw

By Jon Weisman

On December 17, 2015

In International

Photos by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

In between visits with kids of all ages on MLB’s goodwill tour of Cuba, Yasiel Puig had a reunion with his half-brother, as Kevin Baxter writes for the Times.

… While Puig is of Cuba, until this week he hadn’t been in Cuba for nearly five years. And that seemed like an eternity to Yoan Hernandez, Puig’s half brother.

“I missed him,” Hernandez said Wednesday, a day after an emotional reunion. …

In addition, Clayton Kershaw met family members of his teammate and Cuba native, Yasmani Grandal.

… Yohandri Grandal and his father Avelino sat in the first row of the grandstands, watching the clinic. Baseball, and politics, have separated their family as well.

Yohandri’s brother, Yasmani, a Dodgers catcher, left Cuba for Miami with his mother 17 years ago. The siblings have rarely seen each other since and Avelino said he hasn’t seen his son since 2010.

He got a little closer Wednesday when Clayton Kershaw, who is also participating in the goodwill tour, saw Avelino waving a tiny blue Dodgers jersey with Grandal’s name and number. So Kershaw walked over to the two men and reached up into stands to shake their hands.

For now, talking to the pitcher who throws to his brother is about as close as Yohandri figures to get to a reunion. But he’s hopeful the negotiations between baseball officials in the U.S. and Cuba can change that. …

[mlbvideo id=”534840583″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com has more on Kershaw, who is the only player on the trip who doesn’t speak Spanish.

“They keep saying, ‘Baseball’s the way of life,’ but you don’t really know what that means,” Kershaw said. “Then you come here and you kind of understand. It’s so important, and it’s so new, too, this whole trip and what the people here can experience and what we as players can do. It’s just such new territory for us. I think the excitement of being here is infectious.”

One more piece for you: Over at Historic Dodgertown is a history of the relationship between the Dodger and Cuba.

Puig, Kershaw arrive in Cuba

By Jon Weisman

On December 15, 2015

In International

(Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

By Jon Weisman

Yasiel Puig, Clayton Kershaw and the rest of MLB’s goodwill tour to Cuba landed today. Michael Weissenstein of The Associated Press has more:

Puig, who fled to Mexico in a smuggler’s fast-boat in 2012 and then crossed the border to Texas, wrapped his childhood coach Juan Arechavaleta in a bear-hug, resting the side of his face atop the smaller man’s head.

“I’m very happy to be here,” said Puig, who had been barred from returning to Cuba until he was granted special permission for this week’s trip.

The players have arrived in Havana, Cuba. They were greeted at the bus by media, fans and family members @MLB pic.twitter.com/YEoQLBWSIX

— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 15, 2015

Still more on the trip can be found from Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com and Kevin Baxter of the Times. In addition, The Players’ Tribune passed along this happy video of Kershaw.

.@ClaytonKersh22 having a sunset catch along el Malecón in Havana. #TPTCuba https://t.co/5xlzBG1uIS

— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) December 15, 2015

Update: Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com has a feature focusing on Puig, including this quote from Kershaw:

“I know I’m probably not going to be able to go to Cienfuegos, where he’s from,” Kershaw said of Puig, “but just being here, seeing the culture and being here, it can only help me understand him a little bit more as a person, and maybe give me a little bit more credibility with him. It’s important.”

Said Puig: “I’m very emotional about going back to my country, to spend some time with the kids over there. … It’s going to feel very good.”

Dodgers offseason update from Andrew Friedman

By Jon Weisman

On November 9, 2015

In Front office

Tommy Lasorda, one of the people not interviewing for the Dodger managerial opening, with Andrew Friedman. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Tommy Lasorda, who is not interviewing for the Dodger managerial opening, speaks with Andrew Friedman in August. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

OK, so the Dodgers have no new manager or head trainer yet, no new free-agent signings or trades to announce, nothing locked down for the coaching staff.

But with the MLB General Managers meetings underway today through Thursday, Dodger president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke to reporters to provide an offseason update. Here’s a sample of what was said …

Eight storylines for 2016 you can ponder now

By Jon Weisman

On October 27, 2015

In Status report

By Jon Weisman

It’s no secret that this will be another offseason of change for the Dodgers.

Already, manager Don Mattingly and vice president of medical services Stan Conte have departed. Five days after the World Series ends — sometime before November 10 — free agency begins. And you never know what the trade market will bring or take away.

The winter months will address several issues facing the Dodgers. But whatever happens will still leave several questions that won’t be answered until we’re well into the 2016 season.

Among them, these:

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Ellis, Puig, Ruggiano start

By Jon Weisman

On October 13, 2015

In Postseason, Pregame

Dodgers at Mets, 5:00 p.m.
TV: TBS

Mets
Curtis Granderson, RF
David Wright, 3B
Daniel Murphy, 2B
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Travis d’Arnaud, C
Lucas Duda, 1B
Wilmer Flores, SS
Juan Lagares, CF
Steven Matz, P

Dodgers
Kiké Hernandez, CF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Justin Ruggiano, LF
Clayton Kershaw, P

Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

In a reversal of 2014, Yasiel Puig will make his first postseason start in more than a year when the Dodgers play the Mets tonight in Game 4 of the National League Division Series.

Facing a left-handed starter (Steven Matz) for the only time in the NLDS, Don Mattingly has put right-handed hitting outfielders Puig and Justin Ruggiano in place of Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford, who have typically sat against southpaws in 2015.

Also back in today’s lineup is catcher A.J. Ellis, no surprise with a lefty pitching for the opposition, Clayton Kershaw pitching for the Dodgers and Yasmani Grandal appearing to have aggravated his problematic left shoulder in Monday’s 13-7 Game 3 loss.

Memorably, Mattingly substituted Ethier for Puig in Game 4 of the 2014 NLDS, after Puig started the first three games. In each game, the Dodgers needed a win to stay alive in the playoffs. As Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. notes, the Dodgers have lost six straight elimination games on the road in the playoffs, last winning one in 1981.

Van Slyke in doubt for NLDS, Puig possible

By Jon Weisman

On October 6, 2015

In Health/injuries, Postseason

[wpvideo jeZ05eBP]
By Jon Weisman

With Clayton Kershaw (above) starting things out with his morning windsprints, the Dodgers held their first postseason workout today.

The deadline to finalize the 25-man roster for the National League Division Series doesn’t come until 10 a.m. Friday, so the Dodgers haven’t made any announcements regarding who will be on it, nor the starting rotation.

General manager Farhan Zaidi said that while discussions about the final roster spots are continuing, including whether the last spot will go to a pitcher or a position player, the team hopes to let players know their status sooner than later so they they aren’t in the dark.

Scott Van Slyke, battling wrist problems, didn’t bat today, so his chances for playing in the NLDS are dimming. Yasiel Puig is considered healthy and, if the organization is satisfied that he had enough prep time at Camelback Ranch and this weekend against the Padres, he remains a candidate to play in the NLDS.

NL ERA race hotter than Southern California

By Jon Weisman

On September 11, 2015

In Health/injuries, Pregame

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m.
Justin Ruggiano, LF
Jose Peraza, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Corey Seager, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Chris Heisey, CF
Alex Wood, P

By Jon Weisman

A quick note before we get to today’s lengthy health recap: Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta lowered his ERA to 1.99 this afternoon. If he and Zack Greinke stay below 2.00, they’ll be the first duo to do so in the same year since Dwight Gooden (1.53) and John Tudor (1.93) in 1985.

If Clayton Kershaw (2.15) joins them, we would have the first sub-2.00 trio since Luis Tiant (1.91), Gaylord Perry (1.92) and Gary Nolan (1.99) in 1972.

Kershaw, who is next scheduled to start Monday against the Rockies, most likely has four starts left in the 2015 regular season. If he pitched a total of 24 1/3 to 28 1/3 innings, he would need to allow no more than two earned runs (0.64 ERA) to get his ERA below 2.00. If he pitched 28 2/3 to 33 innings, he could allow three runs, and if he pitched at least 33 1/3, he could allow four runs.

And now, to the Web (Gem) MD report, via manager Don Mattingly to reporters:

Jose Peraza, who is playing tonight (batting second) for the first time since tweaking a hamstring September 1, is at 100 percent.
With Jimmy Rollins still recovering from a finger injury, Corey Seager is making his seventh start since his callup nine days ago. As Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. noted, Peraza and Seager are the youngest starting double-play combo for the Dodgers since 1947.
Howie Kendrick had live batting practice and ran the bases. He’s “not there yet but getting closer,” reports Bill Plunkett of the Register.
Yasiel Puig is still feeling hamstring tightness and has not been able to resume baseball work.
Kiké Hernandez is feeling good, but still has to get over the hump.
Yasmani Grandal took live BP today and was hitting home runs, according to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles.
Mat Latos’ stiff neck is improved, but his usage as a starter will depend on matchups.

Seager is Dodgers’ youngest No. 5 hitter since Beltre

By Jon Weisman

On September 4, 2015

In Health/injuries, Pregame

Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, 3B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Scott Schebler, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Mike Bolsinger, P

By Jon Weisman

Scott Schebler and Corey Seager are each making their second career starts tonight for the Dodgers, who continue to weather the longer absences of Yasiel Puig and Kiké Hernandez and the shorter ones of Andre Ethier and Jose Peraza.

Ethier, who fouled a ball off his knee Wednesday, and Peraza, who has been sidelined by hamstring tightness since Tuesday, are expected back to game action soon. Second baseman Howie Kendrick is also close to a return. But Puig and Hernandez look like they’ll be out until close to the end of the regular season.

The result is an interesting lineup that features Chase Utley (.752 OPS as a Dodger, six homers in 2015) batting cleanup and Seager, who wears No. 5, hitting fifth.

At 21 years and 130 days, Seager is the youngest Dodger to start a game batting fifth since Adrian Beltre in 2000. Before Beltre, the last Dodger this young to bat fifth in the starting lineup was Derrell Griffith in 1964.

Yasiel Puig placed on disabled list, Peraza recalled

By Jon Weisman

On August 28, 2015

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Transactions

Cubs at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCXXXV: Kershawgmalion
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Chase Utley, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Andre Ethier, RF
Carl Crawford, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Kiké Hernandez, CF
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

Even with rosters expanding in four days, obviating the need to use the disabled list, the Dodgers are convinced enough that Yasiel Puig’s latest hamstring injury will sideline him for long enough to put him on the 15-day disabled list.

Rather than play a man down between now and Tuesday, the Dodgers have called up infielder-outfielder Jose Peraza, who has a .316 on-base percentage and .378 slugging percentage in Triple-A this year, in addition to having a walk and a triple in seven plate appearances for the Dodgers this month.

The timing for Puig’s injury is a drag, considering that he has a .975 OPS over his past 12 games and also keeps opposing baserunners at bay with his arm.

Gonzalez, Puig leave game with injuries

By Jon Weisman

On August 27, 2015

In Health/injuries

By Jon Weisman

Two key parts of the Dodger offense didn’t make it through today’s game at Cincinnati.

Adrian Gonzalez fouled a ball off his knee in the third inning and departed the contest in the fifth. He is day to day with a contusion, as Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Potentially more serious is the condition of Yasiel Puig, who came up limping after beating out an infield hit in the ninth inning,. With a 2-for-4 day today, Puig has a 10-game hitting streak in which he has a .390 on-base percentage, .526 slugging percentage and .916 OPS.

Yasiel Puig returns to lineup

By Jon Weisman

On August 22, 2015

In Health/injuries, Pregame

Dodgers at Astros, 4:10 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Chase Utley, 2B
Kiké Hernandez, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Alex Guerrero, DH
(Zack Greinke, P)

By Jon Weisman

Yasiel Puig is back in action today for the Dodgers, who will look to end their 0-for-27, 2-for-56 slump at the plate today at Houston.

Sidelined recently by a mild right hamstring strain, Puig actually brings a five-game hitting streak into the game. He is 6 for his last 17 with two walks and a homer, for a .950 OPS.

Zack Greinke is 4 for 6 this month with two homers, but the designated hitter rule leaves his bat in the rack. The past two times the Dodgers have been no-hit, they have been using DHs (Juan Rivera and Chase Utley).

Dodgers go from aggravated to elated to defeated

By Jon Weisman

On August 18, 2015

In Bullpen, Health/injuries, Postgame

[mlbvideo id=”383889883″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

By Jon Weisman

Some notes to pass along after a tough 5-4, 10-inning Dodger loss to the A’s tonight …

Clayton Kershaw lowered his ERA again, to 2.34, after allowing one run in seven innings and 116 pitches. It was a fiery night from Kershaw, who fired a baseball into the Dodger dugout (low enough not to harm anyone) after failing to make a play on an infield chopper to his right.
A.J. Ellis had a tiebreaking three-run home run in the eighth inning and four walks tonight, becoming the first Major Leaguer to do so since Jose Canseco in 1996 (noted by Bob Timmermann). Ellis also had his angry moment, jawing with home-plate umpire Tim Tichenor over a late timeout call.
Pedro Baez surrendered three runs and the lead in the bottom of the eighth. In the past month, opponents had a 0.68 ERA and 0.68 WHIP against Baez with a .200 on-base percentage.
Yimi Garcia pitched a perfect ninth inning, but allowed back-to-back doubles with none out in the 10th to end the game. Garcia had thrown 6 1/3 shutout innings this month, stranding two inherited runners, before those doubles.
Yasiel Puig left tonight’s game in the eighth inning with right hamstring tightness after beating out an infield single. As Ken Gurnick of MLB.com notes, it was a strained left hamstring that sidelined Puig earlier this season.
The Dodgers walked nine times in a loss for the first time since an April 7, 2010 defeat against the Pirates.
Ron Roenicke, Don Mattingly and Farhan Zaidi discussed Roenicke’s hiring as Dodger third-base coach, Gurnick reports.

In case I missed it: Notes from a three-game winning streak

By Jon Weisman

On August 17, 2015

In Awards, Dodger Stadium, In case you missed it

Jill Weisleder/LA Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Dodger Insider is going to be quiet most of the weekend for family events. Hope to return to victory celebrations!

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) August 15, 2015

Well, that worked. Three games away, three victories in the books. And a nice opportunity to celebrate them, with an off day today and Clayton Kershaw on the mound at Oakland on Tuesday.

Let me take this opportunity to tie a bunch of loose ends together …

With 13 innings of one-run ball last week (14 baserunners, 14 strikeouts), Zack Greinke managed to reassert control in the National League Cy Young Award race, even as Kershaw threw eight shutout innings of his own.
Could Greinke, whose adjusted ERA (in an MLB-leading 165 1/3 innings) is the best in baseball since Pedro Martinez in 2000, follow Kershaw as a Most Valuable Player? The award remains Bryce Harper’s to lose, and though the Nationals have slumped terribly, Harper (.415 on-base percentage in August) isn’t to blame. I don’t believe that MVP contention should be tied to a team’s record, but for those voters who do, Greinke’s top competition if the Nationals disappear would probably be San Francisco’s Buster Posey.
Would most people be surprised to find that the Dodgers are on pace for a record number of home victories? Los Angeles is playing .677 ball at Dodger Stadium, which would yield a 55-26 home record if that plays out over their final 19 games here. That would match the 1980 Dodgers in victories, but that team unfortunately lost home game No. 82, the one-game NL West playoff against the Astros.
Looking for the next test? The Dodgers’ next two home series will be against NL playoff contenders Chicago (August 28-30) and San Francisco (August 31-September 2). The Dodgers have lost three home series all season, to the Cardinals, Giants and Mets.
Since sitting out two of the three games against the Angels, Joc Pederson is hitting .167/.447/.400. In 47 plate appearances, he has two singles, a double, two homers, a hit-by-pitch, a sacrifice fly and 15 walks. There are worse things in the world from a No. 8 hitter than that, plus great defensive range.
Yasiel Puig’s 10th homer of the year Saturday gave the Dodgers eight players with double-digit homers, their most since a team-record nine players in 2004. The Dodgers will need one more homer from Howie Kendrick when he comes off the disabled list to tie the record, but what about breaking it? Four more homers from Kiké Hernandez in the final 44 games of the season no longer seems like crazy talk.
Carl Crawford’s OBP in August as a Dodger: .353 in 2013, .360 in 2014, .538 in 2015 (27 plate appearances).
Dad-for-the-second-time Kenley Jansen’s four-out save Sunday was his first of 2015 and eighth of his career. He has never had a longer outing for a save. But in 34 outings of more than one inning in his career, Jansen’s ERA is 0.50 with 23 hits, 18 walks and 80 strikeouts in 54 innings.
Jansen has entered 29 games with a lead this year, and the Dodgers have won them all. After his only blown save of 2015, when Arizona’s A.J. Pollock hit a ninth-inning solo homer June 10, Kendrick had a walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth.

Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Tag: Yasiel Puig (Page 5 of 15)

Updates on Puig, Utley, McCarthy and Kershaw

Riddle me this, Yasiel Puig

Cuban reunions and revelations for Puig, Kershaw

Puig, Kershaw arrive in Cuba

Dodgers offseason update from Andrew Friedman

Eight storylines for 2016 you can ponder now

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Ellis, Puig, Ruggiano start

Van Slyke in doubt for NLDS, Puig possible

NL ERA race hotter than Southern California

Seager is Dodgers’ youngest No. 5 hitter since Beltre

Yasiel Puig placed on disabled list, Peraza recalled

Gonzalez, Puig leave game with injuries

Yasiel Puig returns to lineup

Dodgers go from aggravated to elated to defeated

In case I missed it: Notes from a three-game winning streak

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