Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Matt Kemp’s horrendous season continued on Thursday, when the Dodgers placed him on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Kemp has struggled mightily this season and the Dodgers hope that the time off from the game helps him return to his old ways. With Los Angeles in last place in the NL West, they could really use a spark. With their centerfielder now on the DL, is it time to bring up their top prospect?
At 22-30, the Dodgers are now 7.5 games out of first place in the NL West. While that deficit is by no means insurmountable, Los Angeles will have to start playing much better if they wish to compete, and soon. Thursday the Dodgers had Andre Either slide over from right field and take over center. If I was in charge of the Dodgers, I would bring up Yasiel Puig.
Puig, who is currently at Double-A Chattanooga, hitting .322 with a .615 slugging percentage. He has 8 homeruns, 37 RBI and 13 stolen bases. Simply put, he is dominating the league. That is nothing compared to the way that he handled big league pitching in Spring Training. Puig hit .526 and slugged an incredible .842 during the spring, where he was the talk of baseball. Puig has a great combination of power and speed, and so far in his professional career has shown to be a very good hitter for average as well.
I think this is a no brainer. Puig is obviously showing that he is ready, dominating his current competition, and the Dodgers could really use a spark at the big league level. Not to mention, that if Kemp sees Puig killing it at the major league level, maybe he will be afraid of losing his job, and perform better when he is ready to return. It might be hard to find room for both guys, but if the Dodgers have both Kemp and Puig playing to the best of their abilities, the sky is the limit.
