The Dodgers have been resisting the temptation all season, but Sunday they finally made the move their fans have been waiting for: They called up outfielder Yasiel Puig, who is expected to make his major-league debut Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
It’s really a move made out of necessity. With left fielder Carl Crawford unable to play because of a hamstring injury and center fielder Matt Kemp already on the disabled list with a similar injury, the Dodgers are running out of healthy outfielders.
To clear space on the 25-man roster, the team optioned pitcher Matt Magill to Triple-A Albuquerque. Magill had been summoned from the minors earlier in the day to start against the Colorado Rockies, but that resulted in a 7-2 loss in which Magill walked nine batters in six innings.
Puig, who is generally considered one of the Dodgers' top two prospects, has spent the entire season at Double-A Chattanooga and was hitting .313 with 13 stolen bases, eight home runs and 37 RBI in 40 games. Because of his lack of experience and concerns about his maturity, the Dodgers hoped to give him a full season in the minors, but their poor start and shortage of outfielders forced them to give him a look at the major-league level.
"He's got power. He's got speed. He's got an arm," manager Don Mattingly said of Puig. "It's a tooled-up package, but then on the back side of that, you still say it's a young player. You don't want to build him up to the point where it's impossible to live up to expectations. So you'd like him to just be able to be a young player and be like every young player who comes up."
Puig, 21, defected from Cuba and signed a seven-year, $42-million contract with the Dodgers last June. He had a phenomenal spring, hitting .517 (30 for 58) with four home runs, but even then the Dodgers insisted there was no chance he would make the team. Instead, they sent him directly to Chattanooga for seasoning.
In April, he was arrested and charged with speeding, reckless driving and driving without proof of insurance. That made it clear to the Dodgers that he needed time to grow in his new environment.
Puig has been playing right field in the minors, but he played center field in two games last week after Kemp was put on the DL with a strained right hamstring. He was held out of the starting lineup Saturday and Sunday in case the Dodgers made a move sooner.
Manager Don Mattingly said last week that the Dodgers were likely to call up a “pure” center fielder to take Kemp’s place, possibly veteran Tony Gwynn Jr., but the team clearly believes Puig may have the kind of impact Mike Trout had last season on the Angels when he was called up after the first month and went on to become American League rookie of the year.
The Puig move will become official on Monday, but the Dodgers already released the news on their Twitter page.
Be at Dodger Stadium tomorrow when Cuban phenom Yasiel Puig is likely to make his #Dodgers debut: atmlb.com/18I0xKp
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 2, 2013
