Yasiel Puig might be the Dodgers’ man in the middle, even against left-handers

ANAHEIM – By solving a vexing problem at the plate late last season, Yasiel Puig might now have a spot in the middle of the Dodgers’ lineup on an everyday basis.

Puig, a right-handed batter, simply couldn’t hit left-handed pitching a year ago. He batted .158 against lefties prior to Sept. 1, with only one home run and as many strikeouts as hits (15). He showed signs of a turnaround in September, going  7 for 25 (.280) against lefties to end the season. By October, he was a different hitter.

Puig went 6 for 14 against southpaws during the Dodgers’ postseason run, with a double and a home run. He drew three walks against left-handed pitchers in a single game – Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, against the Cubs’ Jon Lester and Brian Duensing.

What happened?

“Part of it is, the lefties were pitching him in and out, front to back, and then it became mental, to be honest,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That reverse split, you don’t see with many players. He hit against right-handed pitching and thrived. But the lefty, he couldn’t figure it out, we couldn’t figure it out and it became mental. I think we crossed that hurdle.

“He had to have better pitch selection against the lefty, and that’s what he worked out.”

Roberts penciled Puig into the No. 3 spot in his batting order for the Freeway Series opener Sunday against the Angels. Right-hander Parker Bridwell was the opponent, but Puig was batting between two left-handed hitters – Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger. If the Angels wanted to match up against that portion of the Dodgers’ lineup late in the game, they could easily have sent a left-hander in to face all three. A year ago, that might have been a daunting proposition.

Justin Turner will begin the season on the disabled list as he recovers from a fractured bone in his hand. That opens a spot for a right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup. Sometimes that might be Puig, Roberts said, even against left-handed starters.

“Can I say right now that he’s going to hit third every day? Absolutely not,” Roberts said. “But I want to give him a little bit of a runway to show that he deserves that opportunity.”

CUTS COMING, BUT NOT TODAY

Asked about the final round of roster cuts, Roberts said that “we’re going to run this play out as long as we can,” probably until Wednesday. Opening day is Thursday.

In the meantime, extra focus will be given to players who are “on the bubble” for the Dodgers’ opening day roster. Roberts specifically mentioned the outfield, where Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles and Trayce Thompson appear to be in the running for one or two jobs.

“There’s a couple ways we can go; a few ways we can go,” Roberts said.

However, Roberts cautioned that these opening day jobs won’t hinge on how anyone performs against the Angels in the Freeway Series.

“When you’re looking at three days, it’s not about performance,” he said. “We know what we have with the players. So now as an organization we have to figure out what makes sense for the Dodgers when we break camp. That’s something that internally we’ve been discussing.”

MISS CONNECTION

Infielder Errol Robinson is among the handful of minor league players with the Dodgers for the Freeway Series. A sixth-round draft pick in 2016 out of the University of Mississippi, Robinson got 15 Cactus League at-bats and saw time at both second base and shortstop.

Sunday marked the first time he’s been in uniform in a major league stadium. It also presented him with the opportunity for a special reunion.

Robinson and Angels infielder Zack Cozart have a unique connection: both started at shortstop for Ole Miss as freshmen. Cozart, in fact, was the Rebels’ last freshman starting shortstop (2005) before Robinson debuted in 2014. Robinson said that Cozart called him two years ago to congratulate him on being named the starter.

“He was with the Reds, playing shortstop every day,” Robinson said. “Great guy to look after. Kind of cool to be the next freshman playing every day, after him, leaving the legacy he did there.”

ALSO

The San Francisco Giants won’t have two-fifths of their projected starting rotation to begin the season. Left-hander Madison Bumgarner (hand fracture) and right-hander Jeff Samardzija (pectoral strain) were both expected to pitch during the season-opening series at Dodger Stadium.

Despite the fact that the Dodgers and Giants will play each other 10 times during the first month of the regular season, Roberts said the injuries won’t affect how the Dodgers construct their opening day roster.

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