With Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, and Scott Van Slyke the Los Angeles Dodgers have a pretty talented group of outfielders when everyone is healthy.
Unfortunately, it’s not necessarily a complete outfield in terms of where each is best suited to play.
Kemp spent the majority of 2008-2012 in center field, but is now more of a liability there. Ethier, Puig, Van Slyke and Crawford would each play in left or right field in ideal scenarios. However, Don Mattingly has to put someone in center each day so it’s been a bit of a shuffle.
Ethier has handled center field duties the majority of time this year, followed by Kemp and Van Slyke. Noticeably absent is Puig, who can probably cover the most ground of anyone Mattingly could play in the outfield. He also has moments every now and that lead many to say he’s getting by on physical ability, not fundamentals.
It’s because of those instances that Don Mattingly is choosing to keep Yasiel Puig away from one of baseball’s premier defensive positions for now.
Mattingly on hesitation using Puig in CF: "Pretty much because he’s out of control most of the time… he kind of scares the other OFs"
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) July 22, 2014
Well then.
Puig is a highlight reel waiting to happen, but that alone doesn’t make a great defensive player. So, for the time being, it appears we will continue watching Yasiel Puig do his thing in right field.
