Dodgers 2016 profile: Yasiel Puig

Up next in our 2016 Dodgers profile series is Yasiel Puig

Puig in 10 words or less

Most dynamic Dodger, with the widest range of possible outcomes.

Question

Which Puig will the Dodgers see in 2016?

Puig was not Puig in 2015, felled by a series of nagging injuries plus major ones as well. He missed over a month for each hamstring strain he had last season, one in each leg. He was limited to 79 games, hitting just .255/.322/.436 with 11 home runs.

Now, it's important to note that the reduced Puig was still an above-average player, posting a 109 OPS+ and 111 wRC+ while diminished. But he was nowhere near the dynamic player he showed in 2013-2014 (151 OPS+, 152 wRC+).

After tasting relative failure in 2015, whether a more humbled Puig will avoid the sort of transgressions that in the past have infuriated coaches and teammates alike, he starts with a clean slate under the new coaching staff and manager Dave Roberts.

"He's been open. He's been fun-loving, communicating with his teammates and the coaches," Roberts said. "The will to want to get better is there, so that's all I know."

Quotable

"When he's healthy and he's right, what he brings to a team is pretty special."

-Dave Roberts

Trivia

Going 0-for-3 on July 11, 2015, Puig's career batting average dropped to .2999 (329 hits in 1,097 at-bats). Since that still counts as .300, we have to go one day later, to July 12, when an 0-for-4 dropped Puig to .299, and with his second plate appearance that day and 1,251st of his career, his career batting average dropped below .300 for the first time.

Contract status

Puig has three years and $19.5 million left on his contract, including $5.5 million in 2016. Puig can opt out of his contract and into salary arbitration when he becomes eligible, which will be after the 2016 season. Puig won't be a free agent until after the 2019 campaign.

Stats

2016 outlook

Puig came into camp in great shape, and I think he flourishes under the new staff, hitting .311/.383/.528 with 24 home runs.

Enter your guesses for Puig's 2016 performance in the comments below.