Dodgers mailbag: Has Yasiel Puig turned a corner?

The Dodgers are 42-36. That translates to an 87-win pace. The team entered the Steel City on a six-game winning streak, but departed on Monday afternoon with three losses in four days. The series stunted the team’s momentum after an encouraging stand at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers will not have a day off until the All-Star break. They play three games in Milwaukee this weekend before starting a 10-game home stand against the Rockies, Orioles and Padres. The Giants haven’t run away with the National League West just yet, but the lead just keeps growing. So there’s plenty to discuss.

As always, you can send me questions on Twitter @McCulloughTimes. Let’s do this.

With Yasiel Puig in 2016, it’s always a matter of managing expectations. Most rival executives I speak with believe the peak of 2013 will never be topped. Even Puig’s season of 2014 may not be repeated. But if he can post a .750-.800 on-base-plus slugging percentage, play his dynamic version of defense and create havoc on the bases, he can still be a quite valuable player.

Since he returned from the disabled list last week, Puig has eight hits in 23 at-bats. That is a .348 clip, which is quite good. But his encouraging 23 at-bats should not overshadow the .237 batting average in the 186 at-bats before he got hurt. Puig needs to sustain his production for more than a week before he can be declared a man who has turned a corner.

Manager Dave Roberts does sound optimistic about some improvements in Puig’s mechanics. Puig has trimmed down some of the movement in his swing, which forced him to guess on pitches too early, exposing him to flail at offspeed offerings.

“I think he’s really making a concerted effort, which sounds crazy, on seeing the baseball,” Roberts said. “Before he went on the disabled list, he was sort of chasing hits. Now I think he’s reset and he’s seeing the ball, slowing things down. We’ve talked about it all year: Taking balls and swinging at strikes. I think he’s doing a better job at that.”

That is an excellent question. When the Dodgers called up Chris Taylor, they outfitted the team with another backup shortstop. In roster discussions before that, Enrique Hernandez was almost guaranteed to avoid a demotion due to his ability to replace Corey Seager in an emergency. Taylor gives the Dodgers more freedom to move Hernandez.

And there is an argument for Hernandez to receive more consistent playing time in the minors in hopes he can recapture the form he displayed in 2015. Hernandez has been slumped since the middle of April. He did have a productive game on Monday, walking three times against Pirates starter Francisco Liriano. But when the Dodgers make a roster move to add a starter on Wednesday, it wouldn’t shock me to see Hernandez go down.

Alex Wood did not make this road trip. He has been playing catch, but he has not been cleared to throw off a mound yet, Roberts said this weekend.

Yeah, so, this is where the Dodgers may wade into dangerous territory – or the trade market. The team is rehabbing Brett Anderson and Alex Wood, but counting on injured pitchers is difficult (which is the entire reason for this thought exercise). Frankie Montas likely won’t pitch as a starter when he returns from his broken rib, Julio Urias may be shut down soon, Ross Stripling is just restarting his minor-league build-up and Jose De Leon still needs to build up his pitch count.

Already the team has churned through Mike Bolsinger and Nick Tepesch. It looks like Brock Stewart will get his chance on Wednesday. But as you can see, the depth has already been stretched quite thin. If Ryu and McCarthy aren’t reliable, the Dodgers may need to get more aggressive about looking at starting pitchers around the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

It does not sound like that will happen. Adrian Gonzalez insisted on Monday that he has felt better and better since receiving an epidural for his back in late May.

It almost certainly will be Jose De Leon, now that Frankie Montas has suffered a broken rib and will miss four to eight weeks. Given the team’s fifth-starter carousel, De Leon could be up in the majors relatively soon.

The Dodgers felt like they could use an upgrade over Charlie Culberson, in terms of infield depth, and Zach Lee had fallen deep enough in the depth chart to become expendable. Despite his status as a first-round pick, Lee never received an extended look in the majors from the Dodgers. Then again, he posted a 5.74 earned-run average in 13 starts for triple-A Oklahoma City. That is not enough to merit a call-up.

1. Yes, the Dodgers would like to acquire the theoretical “big bat.” They will consider Jay Bruce. I imagine Alex Anthopoulous might make a call to his old team in Toronto to see if Jose Bautista is available. Josh Reddick makes some sense. Jonathan Lucroy might make more sense than anyone else, but the prospect haul required by Milwaukee to retrieve him will be sizable.

2. I’m not sure Matt Kemp qualifies as a premier hitter anymore. He has a .278 on-base percentage and a 102 OPS+. And his contract is onerous. A reunion is quite doubtful.

The shirts read “Be a buffalo, not a cow.” It’s one of those positive-thinking things.

Man, the whole record just rocks. My favorite track is still “Black Honey,” but I also support “The Long Defeat,” “Stay With Me” and “Whistleblower.”

Here’s the top five:

1. Brand New, summer of 2006, The Electric Factory in Philadelphia.

2. The Decemberists, spring 2005, TLA in Philadelphia.

3. The Wonder Years, December 2013, The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

4. The Dropkick Murphys, spring 2003, The Electric Factory.

5. Japandroids, December 2012, Union Transfer in Philadelphia.

Honorable mention: I’ve caught The Hotelier three times in the last three years, the most recent at The Echo earlier this month, and they get better and better each time.