Los Angeles Dodgers: Who will provide the sparks in Yasiel Puig’s return?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are hosting the Cincinnati Reds on Jackie Robinson Day and are also hosting an old friend in Yasiel Puig.

Jackie Robinson Day is one of the best days of the baseball year as everyone celebrates the legendary, groundbreaking icon that is Jackie Robinson. For the Los Angeles Dodgers, this day is always special.

However, there is more reason to be excited this year as the Dodgers have several storylines entering play.

First, the least intriguing of the three, the Dodgers were able to snap the team’s six-game losing streak on Sunday and are hopefully primed to start a new winning streak against a worse Reds team.

More importantly, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will be taking the bump for the first time all season after starting the year on the IL. Facing him presents the biggest storyline of the day in Yasiel Puig, who was traded by the Dodgers in the summer.

Say what you will about Puig. Some have already joined the rest of the league in hating Puig for his offseason comments, while others appreciate what he did for the team. Regardless of how you feel, you cannot deny that Puig cares about the fans and was always trying to entertain.

Heck, he is still even doing charity work in Los Angeles through his Wild Horse Foundation. While it is easy to hate his on-field antics, it is hard to hate Puig as a person.

Puig, along with former Dodger teammates Alex Wood and Matt Kemp, will likely get a nice tribute package before the game and then after that, it will be all business.

As part of our Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak series, here is who we think will provide the sparks for the Dodgers on Monday, similar to how Puig used to spark the crowd on a nightly basis.

Jason’s pick (Current streak: 1): Corey Seager

The Los Angeles Dodgers played a complete game on Sunday and it was very pleasing to see. The offense was in its best form as the team scored six runs in the first three innings and the pitching was phenomenal, backed by an eight-inning, one-run outing by Ross Stripling.

There were plenty of positives but the one area that there were no positives was at shortstop with Corey Seager. Seager, who has gotten off to a slow start in 2019, took a hit to the batting average with an 0-5 outing.

Facing the Dodgers is Luis Castillo, someone that Corey Seager has never logged a plate appearance against.

Seager will hit Castillo fairly well in their first matchup. He is too good of a hitter to 0-9 or even 0-10 in back-to-back games. I would expect at least a two-hit night out of Seager.

The fans’ pick (Current streak: 2): Cody Bellinger

If you are a regular reader of this series then you would know that the fans always pick Cody Bellinger. That is no different for Monday, as the fans have once against picked Bellinger, who is arguably the hottest hitter in the Majors.

Bellinger six at-bats against Castillo wtih just one knock. However, the way Bellinger is hitting, it seems as certain as the sun rising that he will get a base hit.