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Nick Punto seemed an odd throw in to the deal that sent the Dodgers Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett. I mean, he wasn't making an outrageous salary as a bench player ($3M for 2 years) and he certainly wasn't as far as anyone knew, a clubhouse problem. Now the Dodgers did not know that Luis Cruz was going to blossom in September and perhaps they wanted some more back ups especially with the health of Jerry Hairston and Adam Kennedy.
No matter, Punto came with the others and only started 3 games and coming to the plate 42 times and prior to Hanley Ramirez's injury, this amount of playing time in 2013 was to be expected for Punto.
Trivia
Nick Punto went to Trabuco Hills High School, which is less than 10 miles away from where teammate Skip Schumaker's high school, Aliso Niguel High School is located.
Nick Punto's 15 career home runs in 3195 PA is the lowest of any active player with that many PA. 3 other players have less than 20 career home runs in over 3195 PA and all 3 have played with the Dodgers in the last 5 years, Juan Pierre, Ryan Theriot and Jamey Carroll.
Contact Status
Punto is in the final season of a two-year deal, and will earn $1.5 million in 2013.
Stats
| Year | Age | PA |
HR |
Runs | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | wOBA |
| 2010 (Minnesota) |
32 | 288 | 1 | 24 | 20 | .238 | .313 | .302 | .279 |
| 2011 (St. Louis) | 33 | 166 | 1 | 21 | 20 | .278 | .388 | .421 | .352 |
| 2012 (Boston/LA) | 34 | 191 | 1 | 20 | 10 | .219 | .321 | .281 | .278 |
| 2013 Projections - Age 35 Season | |||||||||
| Year | PA |
HR |
Runs | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | wOBA | |
| Bill James | 231 | 1 | 25 | 16 | .230 | .320 | .299 | .283 | |
| Pecota | 307 | 1 | 30 | 22 | .232 | .314 | .301 | ---- | |
| ZiPS | 227 | 1 | 22 | 15 | .232 | .323 | .309 | .283 | |
2013 Outlook
Punto will be part of mix backing up Luis Cruz, Juan Uribe and Dee Gordon on the left side of the infield until Ramirez returns. I think Punto will hit .225/.305/.285.
What is your guess for Punto? Be sure to guess BA/OBP/SLG and any other thing you wish to guess.