2016 Dodgers review: Yasiel Puig

Yasiel Puig’s 2016 season was nothing if not eventful.

What went right

Puig started the season on a six-game hitting streak, including a triple in each of the first two games of the year. Puig reached base by hit or walk in the first 10 games of 2016, hitting .405/.500/.622.

Puig stole five bases in seven attempts in 2016, his 71.4% success rate the best in his career.

He also made this ridiculous catch, in his first game in left field since 2013, in the seventh inning in Miami on Sept. 10 to help preserve Rich Hill’’s perfect game attempt:

After a month in Oklahoma City, Puig finished the regular season strong, hitting .281/.338/.561 in September, including .317 (13-for-41) with four home runs, three doubles, three walks and 11 RBI in just 44 plate appearances against lefties.

That earned Puig a spot on the NLDS (and then NLCS) roster.

"He came back energized, on board for the team,” manager Dave Roberts said. “For us to include him on the postseason roster was a credit to him.”

What went wrong

For the third time in two seasons, Puig hit the disabled list with a hamstring strain, missing 17 games this June with a left hamstring strain.

In the midst of another ordinary year, a shell of the dynamic player he was in 2013-2014, Puig was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City for a month, after the major league coaching staff had to devote too much time dealing with Puig in one way or another, relative to the rest of the team.

After his return, Puig was confined to platoon status, starting just once in 25 games against right-handed pitchers in September and October.

In the postseason, Puig was 4-for-19 (.211) with no extra-base hits, no RBI and one run scored and three walks (two intentional) in 10 games, including just three starts. That included 3-for-15 (.200) with two walks against lefties.

2016 particulars

Age: 25

Stats: .263/.323/.416, 11 HR, 14 doubles, 45 RBI in 104 games, 1.4 rWAR, 1.0 fWAR

Salary: $5.5 million

Game of the year

Puig was 2-for-4 against the Nationals on June 22, including a one-out single in the ninth inning that rolled under the glove of center fielder Michael Taylor. The error not only allowed Howie Kendrick to score the tying run, but Puig never stopped running and slid home with the winning run to finish his Little League home run.

Roster status

Puig has three years, 102 days of service time and could have opted into salary arbitration but instead chose to remain under his current contract, which will pay him $6.5 million in 2017.

Puig has used three option years, but he might qualify for a fourth option year in 2017. I have not yet confirmed whether this has been determined.