Dodgers move Yasiel Puig to cleanup, promote Justin Sellers

The Dodgers moved Yasiel Puig to the cleanup spot and recalled utilityman Justin Sellers on Monday to compensate for the absence of power-hitting shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

Ramirez is bothered by tightness in the same left hamstring that forced him to be sidelined for a month earlier this season. He will be out of the lineup for the fifth consecutive day Monday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Ramirez batted cleanup in three of the four games he started since he returned from the disabled list on May 1.

Puig has led off for the Dodgers in all seven games he has played. Puig is batting .464 and has an on-base percentage of .483, but each of the four runs he has scored came on his home runs.

Manager Don Mattingly said he considered dropping Puig to the cleanup spot on Sunday.

“We’ve got to have somebody back there because somebody has to protect Adrian,” Mattingly said, referring to No. 3 hitter Adrian Gonzalez.

In Sellers, the Dodgers will get additional cover at shortstop. With Ramirez recovering from a broken thumb, Sellers was the Dodgers’ opening-day shortstop. He batted .191 in 26 games and was sent down to triple A early last month.

To clear a spot on the active roster, the Dodgers optioned pitcher Matt Magill to triple-A Albuquerque.

Nick Punto will start at shortstop Monday.