The L.A. Dodgers Need All They Can Get Without Yasiel Puig

With Yasiel Puig still on the Disabled List (DL) with a tight hamstring, are the Dodgers doomed until his return or have they been adjusting accordingly?

During the time that Puig was on the DL, the Dodgers organization was battling their all-time rivals the San Francisco Giants who are only now 1.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West.

As the Dodgers and the Giants faced off in one of the most important and exciting series in the National League, they had to face it without one of their most influential players both on and off the diamond.

Since then, Los Angeles hasn’t been doing so hot.

The Dodgers went 36 innings without scoring a run, but that was broken as Justin Turner stretched a base-hit to a double and was drove in by Andre Ethier in Friday’s game against the Padres.

What we can gather from this is that the entire Dodgers organization has been rather slow to adjust to playing without Puig. But, Puig isn’t the reason for the struggling Dodgers. Their bats have gone dead and their pitching rotation has become weak. From Kershaw giving up a home-run to Bumgarner, to the Dodgers getting 22 hits in three games and not scoring a single run.

This slump is just a normal occurrence in the game we call baseball. Baseball is much like a roller coaster which has its ups and downs in which the Dodgers are in a low spot.

But every roller coaster that goes down must climb back up to the top.

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Puig is improving, per CBS Sports, but the Dodgers need more than just words — they need his actions.

He hasn’t returned to playing rehab games since he was playing in the High Desert with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes where his only hit was a home-run against the High Desert Mavericks.

Puig has since been progressing in his workouts to strengthen his legs and take pressure off his hamstring.

Though there has been no specific timeline to which Puig will return, but it is going to be interesting to see how he is going to adjust and what he is going to do in the remainder of the season.

Bottom Line: We need Puig back

Until he returns, Puig is going to have to be working extra hard in his physical training and ensure that he keeps his skills sharp because the Dodgers organization is going to need his bat and his speed, granted that he keeps his speed.

Is it possible that this can be more than just a pulled hamstring?

Most athletes have the ability to push through pain and compete regardless of how they really feel, but there comes a point when some injuries are too much to bear.

It may be that he has been pushing through the pain of a pulled hamstring which may be something bigger.

As fans, we hope that he continues rapidly down the road of recovery and gets healthy again so we can see him put in work on the diamond as the Yasiel Puig we know.

We want to see the Yasiel Puig who hits homeruns. We want to see the Yasiel Puig who steals bases left and right.

We want to see the Yasiel Puig who walks out of that dugout in Los Angeles as the Dodgers take the field.

But most importantly, we want Yasiel Puig to be okay.