Dodgers News: Yasiel Puig Hits 10-Day Disabled List With Hip Pointer, Bruised Foot
Yasiel Puig’s tough season just took another turn for the worse.
When 2018 began, Puig was scorching the ball right at people. It felt like a degree of bad luck. That bad luck morphed into a miniature slump, which grew into a full-blown slump. On Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, the Dodgers’ outfielder suffered a few different injuries. As a result, Puig has been placed on the 10-day disabled list. This move corresponded with Alex Verdugo being called up for the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader.
Here’s how the first injury happened to Puig’s hip:
https://twitter.com/BallparkVids/status/990335119733948416
The good news is when I first saw this, I thought that Puig had badly hurt his shoulder. This was not the case, as this was the when the hip pointer occurred.
Puig is a tough player. He tried to stay in the game – what many players will call ‘grinding it out’ for the good of the team. As his (poor) luck would have it, he fouled a pitch off his foot during the first plate appearance after colliding with the wall in right field.
Yasiel Puig is not a doctor. "It should be bruised but I can't see it because it's the same color as me." Will get X-rays, out for Game 2 at least #Dodgers
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) April 29, 2018
Through 24 games this season, Puig has hit .193 with a .250 on-base and .250 slugging percentage in 88 at-bats. He has no home runs, and 19 strikeouts to seven walks. This has been the most challenging start to a season of his career, given the lofty expectations he entered 2018 with.
Analysis
This could end up a small positive for Puig, and hopefully the stint is no longer than two weeks total. It didn’t appear that Puig was coming out of the slump anytime soon – so sometimes an extended break away from the diamond for any reason can give them a necessary mental break. The Dodgers are going to need Puig to emerge at some point this season if they’re going to make a run of their own. His level of production is not acceptable for a player of his caliber – he is better than his statistics show – and he will be better at some point. Don’t be surprised to see the player return with a cleared mind, and suddenly more hits start falling and finding their way over the fence.
