It looks like Yasiel Puig is going to be famous a lot sooner than anyone expected. (USATSI)LOS ANGELES -- All the Dodgers wanted from Yasiel Puig was an injection of energy.He brought the wrecking ball to town all on his own.Oh. My. Goodness.
Two home runs and five RBI later on Night Two, this kid rapidly is making folks forget Matt Kemp's struggles, Carl Crawford's
hamstring and the Los Angeles bullpen's flammability.The Dodgers
blitzed San Diego 9-7 on Tuesday thanks to Puig's three-run jack in the
fifth that erased a 5-2 Padres lead, and his two-run, opposite field tomahawk job in the sixth that extended the Dodgers' 7-6 lead to 9-6."Day Two," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly deadpanned afterward.
Quick,
carve out a permanent spot in the Dodgers outfield for this guy. Get
him into the All-Star Game. The club's annual Hollywood Stars softball
game? Sure, sign him up.
At this point, why the heck not?
"Nice," shortstop Hanley Ramirez cooed, having watched the Puig Power Point Presentation upon his return from the disabled list. "Nice."
The
Dodgers are still in last place. But suddenly, 48 hours after the kid's
arrival, the possibilities again seem limitless."One thing about the
home run," Mattingly said. "It can put you back in the game, and it can
put the game away."We've had a serious lack of power."
Puig's
swing over his first two nights looks capable of energizing Mulholland
Drive all by itself. His arm could power all of downtown Los Angeles.
"Exciting
tools," one scout who watched him this spring said Tuesday, still
buzzing from highlights of Puig's Monday night throw. "I've never seen
anybody stronger than that.
"Excitement in a bottle, there."
Two
nights into his career, the 22-year-old Cuban refugee preserved the win
in his first game with a sensational throw from the right-field wall to
first base to nail a game-ending 9-3 double-play.
His second game, Puig single-handedly blasted the Dodgers to another victory.
His mother, father and sister, who is 17, were in the stands both nights. Already, he's getting recognized around town.
"When they ask me for my autograph, I give it to them," the genial outfielder said through an interpreter.
Through two games, he's hitting .625 with a .625 on-base percentage and a 1.500 slugging percentage.
He
has racked up two homers, one double, five hits, 12 total bases, five
RBI and two in-game curtain calls from Dodger Stadium customers who
recognize a live wire when they see one.
"I want to thank the fans
for coming out and supporting the Dodgers," he said through the
interpreter when quizzed about the curtain calls.
Attention, Marketing Department: This guy is good.
And the wreckage he has left behind on the field ... it's ridiculous.
"Pretty amazing,” said Dodgers reliever Matt Guerrier,
who narrowly escaped catastrophe when a line drive up the middle nailed
him in the thumb (X-rays were negative). “We saw a little of it in spring training. It's been pretty exciting, these first two days.
"We haven't seen him steal a couple of bases yet. We've got to see that next, right?”
Now that you mention it. ...
Actually,
the one mistake he has been collared for came in the first inning
Tuesday, following his leadoff double. He moved to third on Mark Ellis' bouncer to second, but then stayed there when Adrian Gonzalez followed with another ground ball to second.
The Padres were playing back with one out, conceding the run. Puig should have run on contact. He easily would have scored.
"We're
going to get some of that,” Mattingly said. “But when you're getting as
much as we're getting on the other side, you deal with it."
Puig
became the first Dodgers player with five or more RBI in his first two
games since Spider Jordenson, who had six in 1947. He also became the
first Dodgers player with a multi-homer game within the first two games
of his career.
The three-run blast in the fifth was estimated at 439 feet.
The two-run poke in the sixth barely scraped over the right-field wall.
“You see a little of everything this guy can do,” Mattingly said. “Power both ways ... he's fun to watch.”
It was one thing to watch him dominate Cactus League pitching in the thin Arizona air.
But to see what he has done in a triple-deck stadium under the major-league lights with both his bat and his arm, whoa.
Said Padres first-base coach Dave Roberts: "They've got some energy now."
Now we'll see what they do with it.
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