Dodgers Week 10 review: Yasiel Puig & not much else

The Dodgers were engulfed in Puig fever last week, as Yasiel Puig had one of the finest debuts in major league history. Puig wowed at every turn, whether he was launching home runs, spraying line drives, or unleashing strong and insanely accurate throws from just about any angle.

Puig's debut week can be summed up in these factoids:

• Puig got off to such a hot start that after only one of his plate appearances did his batting average dip below .400 (the 18th, when he was at .389; in his 19th plate appearance, he homered). Puig ended the week hitting a robust .464/.483/.964.
• Puig is the only Dodger since at least 1916 with five multi-hit games in his first seven games.
• The Dodgers all season have struggled with the bases loaded. Coming into Thursday the team had just seven singles in 46 at-bats (.152) with the bases juiced, with no home runs. In Yasiel Puig's one plate appearance with the bases loaded, on Thursday against the Braves, he hit a grand slam.
• In Puig's first four plate appearances with runners in scoring position, he homered three times. The rest of the team has four home runs combined with runners in scoring position all season.
• Puig played every inning and batted leadoff in all seven games and put up a .483 on-base percentage. Even taking away his four home runs, Puig would have a .400 on-base percentage, in 25 plate appearances. Yet, Puig only scored four runs, all scored on his own home runs.

That final fact is a big reason why, despite adding a force of nature to their lineup, the Dodgers still just managed to score barely three runs per game, and finished with a pedestrian 4-3 record.

Dodger Batter of the Week: The easiest choice of the season, as the first week for Yasiel Puig will be remembered for a long time. Puig has the only four-homer week by a Dodger this season.

Honorable mention goes to Skip Schumaker, who hit over .400 and carried a 15-game hitting streak into next week.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: The return of good Zack Greinke takes this award with seven scoreless innings. He narrowly beat out a strong performance by Hyun-jin Ryu and a pair of solid starts by Stephen Fife, who captured his first major league win.

Game of the Week

More like moments of the week.
There was The Throw in the first game:
Then came the first home run:
There was the game-tying pop fly home run:
And the laser:

Week 10 Record: 4-3
22 runs scored (3.14 per game)
25 runs allowed (3.57 per game)
.442 pythagorean winning percentage

Season Record: 27-35
217 runs scored (3.50 per game)
261 runs allowed (4.21 per game)
.416 pythagorean winning percentage (26-36)

Transactions:

• Monday: The man, the myth, the legend, Yasiel Puig was recalled from Double-A Chattanooga, filling the open roster spot from Sunday when Matt Magill was optioned.
• Monday: A hamstring strain put Carl Crawford on the 15-day disabled list, opening a spot for spot starter Stephen Fife to get recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. Because Fife was recalled within 10 days of his getting sent down, his May 30 option was nullified.
• Tuesday: Spot starter Fife got to stick around because a lat strain put Chris Capuano on the disabled list. That move made room for the activation of shortstop Hanley Ramirez from the DL.
• Sunday: A neck sprain landed Ted Lilly on the 15-day disabled list, and made room for Matt Magill to get recalled for another spot start. His June 2 option was nullified.

Game Results:

• Monday: Dodgers 2, Padres 1
• Tuesday: Dodgers 9, Padres 7
• Wednesday: Padres 6, Dodgers 2
• Thursday: Dodgers 5, Braves 0
• Friday: Dodgers 2, Braves 1 (10)
• Saturday: Braves 2, Dodgers 1
• Sunday: Braves 8, Dodgers 1

Upcoming Week: The Dodgers run the Turner Ward gauntlet this week, finishing up the 10-game homestand with three games against the Diamondbacks, followed by an off day then three games in Pittsburgh.

Previous weeks in review: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9

Week 10 Stats