The Los Angeles Dodgers are currently in first place in the National League West, holding off a hard charge from the surging San Francisco Giants, the 2014 champions. They will get a big boost soon in the form of outfielder Yasiel Puig, if reports are correct.
Rumor has it that Puig, Los Angeles' "Wild Horse," is running at close to 100 percent after battling a hamstring injury and a setback during his rehab.
Puig had played in just 11 games before injuring his hamstring, slashing .279/.380/.465 with two home runs, four RBI and four runs scored. In Puig's absence, as well as the absence of Carl Crawford, fellow Cuban Alex Guerrero and Andre Ethier have thrived in full-time outfield roles.
Ethier in particular has been excellent. He is slashing .309/.355/.551 in 47 games with seven homers and 20 RBI. More importantly, Ethier seems to have solved his issues vs. left-handed pitching; he is hitting .300 in 20 at-bats vs. southpaws, although all of his home runs and all but one RBI are against right-handers.
Despite the success of Ethier and Guerrero, Puig is one of baseball's most electric players and he possesses one of MLB's top outfield arms in addition to his potent bat.
I feel like it's going to be sometime this coming week," manager Don Mattingly said of Puig beginning a rehab assignment. "If I would guess, it would be later than earlier."
Mattingly isn't getting too excited about it just yet though. Puig hasn't progressed to running curves just yet, and this is where he ran into trouble last time.
It seems like that's the point when guys are getting closer to going out and playing in a rehab game. We got to curve last time too."
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