Dodgers News: Puig’s Hamstring No Longer Believed To Be An Issue
Yasiel Puig returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup Tuesday for the series opener against the San Francisco Giants. He went 2-for-4 in just his third game since April 13. Puig missed three straight games with tightness in his left hamstring, returned Saturday but sat again Sunday due to soreness.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly maintained throughout the week the situation wasn’t serious, but that the Dodgers would be cautious with their handling of Puig and place him on the disabled list if necessary. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Mattingly indicated the hamstring issue has been laid to rest, via ESPN’s Mark Saxon:
As far as the information I get from medical, they passed him, so it’s good to go,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “I asked them about the whole series. He’s good to go.”
Whereas Puig limped in his first return against the Colorado Rockies on April 18, he didn’t show any signs of still being bothered by his hamstring Tuesday. While he didn’t have the opportunity to truly test it on the basepaths, he successfully made a running catch in the right-center field gap.
The Dodgers resistance to rushing Puig back can be tied to the tricky nature of hamstring injuries, which was an issue with Juan Uribe last season. Puig presumably will be in Tuesday’s lineup looking to add to his career success at AT&T Park when the Dodgers face Madison Bumgarner.
Puig is 6-for-22 with two home runs and two RBIs against Bumgarner in his career, and also has struck out seven times. There’s little love lost between the two, who twice last season exchanged words — with the second incident coming in a late-September game at Dodger Stadium.
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