What will Yasiel Puig be in 2017?

Yasiel Puig is one of the mostpolarizingplayers in baseball and his impact on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 will be very significant in determining his future with the club.

The player that Vin Scullydeemed“The Wild Horse” during a spectacular, whirlwind rookie season in 2013 has yet to consistently capitalize on his abundant ability.

Entering his fifth season in 2017, Puig has seen his OPSdeclineeach year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, reaching a nadir last summer when he wassentdown to AAA Oklahoma City.

Puig, a 26-year old Cuba native with alifetime.833 OPS to go with 57 home runs, has an improvedapproachentering this season, and belted his first roundtripper today to compile a modest three-game hitting streak.

Though spring training stats are routinely and intentionally overlooked, aslimmed-down Puig is one player that Dave Roberts and the Dodgers front office will be watching closely.

The power and talent are undeniable, and the Dodgers front office will be keeping an eye on his newapproach, never mind the occasional bat flip.

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Appearing more athletic and lean as than he has in a Dodgers uniform, Puig attributes his weight loss toadviceand a diet regimeninspiredby Hall-of-Famers-to-be Albert Pujols and Robinson Cano.

Puig’s Bo Jackson-esqueskillset of straight-linespeed, rawpowerand a rocketarmis unparalleled in today’s Major League Baseball, and the Dodgers are hoping that the package culminates in a career season for Puig.

Though it appeared the the Dodgers werefinishedwith the mercurial Puig in 2016, it was after he was called up from AAA last season that the Dodgers saw his improved outlook; his talent was never in doubt.

The consistency ofeffortincreased, and his numbers bore out a more realized focus from the outfielder – his .705 first half OPS improved to .837afterhis recall.

Los Angeles’ front office knew Puig’s talent, but the production convinced president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi to keep Puig in-house for the 2017 season.

When the year kicked off, it was evident what the organization wanted from Puig.

“I think the upside is significant, and I think there’s a lot more awareness of kind of what’s expected,” Friedmansaidat a Dodger Stadium press conference in January.

“I definitely see some real maturation. . .he’s capable of so much, and I know his teammates want to see him achieve that, we want to see him achieve that, and we’ll do everything we can to put him in a position to do that.”

One problem of opportunity for Puig is that the Dodgers have alogjamin the corner spots of the outfield.

WithJoc Pedersonset to start the majority of games in centerfield,Andre Ethier,Andrew Toles,Kiké Hernandez,Scott Van Slyke,Trayce ThompsonandFranklin Gutierrezare all competing for playing time at the corner outfield spots.

Each player has advantages and disadvantages, but nobody comes close to the “five tool” talentpackagethat is Yasiel Puig.

And that’s exactly why manager Dave Roberts wants to give Puig the majority of the playing time this season. RobertstoldAndy McCullough of the L.A. Times, “we expect him to be out there the majority of the time.

Yasiel put in a lot of work this winter with his swing, his swing mechanics. And, obviously, the body looks great.”

Again with the physique.

Puig is not shy, this we know – he spent part of the offseason as an impromptubaristaat Coffee Bean in Studio City.

By all counts, he looked great, including a nod fromTMZ.

And based on early returns thus far in the spring, the swing looks great, too – and that’s what Roberts, Friedman, and the Dodger Stadium faithful would love to see from “The Wild Horse” in 2017.

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