Yasiel Puig starting in right field, leading off for Dodgers
It’s official.
The Yasiel Puig experiment will begin at 7:05 p.m. Monday at Dodger Stadium when the Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres in the first game of a three-game series.
Puig will start in right field and hit leadoff in his major league debut.
The Dodgers called up the 22-year-old Cuban following Sunday’s 7-2 loss to Colorado after placing left fielder Carl Crawford on the disabled list with a sore hamstring. Crawford will keep center fielder Matt Kemp company on the 15-day disabled list. Kemp strained his hamstring in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s loss to the Angels.
Puig, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound outfielder, was batting .313 with eight home runs and 37 runs batted in in 147 at-bats at double-A Chattanooga.
During his first turn in batting practice, Puig, who will wear No. 66, showed his potential by sending a line-drive shot into the top rows of the left-field pavilion.
Puig had a torrid spring training, hitting .517 with four home runs and an .828 slugging percentage.
A year ago this month, Puig signed a seven-year, $42-million contract with a $12-million signing bonus. He will earn $2 million in each of his first three seasons.
Twitter: @andrewgastelum
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