Dodgers manager Don Mattingly corrected a claim he made about Yasiel Puig‘s health.
Mattingly told reporters Saturday that Puig wouldn’t play after receiving IV treatment for a stomach ailment. Sunday, the manager said that Puig never received an IV.
Maybe the illness was overblown, or an excuse to get a struggling hitter out of the lineup.
Whatever the reason, Puig is struggling. That’s a fact.
Since August 1, Puig is slashing .211/.309/.239. Sunday, he was dropped to seventh in the batting order for the first time in his career.
“I’m sure he’s working on rhythm and getting some movement, because we feel like he got stagnant at the plate,” Mattingly said. “I think you have to come up with the mentality that you swing at strikes. Patience, for me, doesn’t mean you’re trying to walk. It just means your’e getting yourself a good pitch to hit. That’s to me, what that is: Not in a hurry to get the at-bat over.”
As is sometimes the case, the problem isn’t as simple as Mattingly makes it sound.
Pitch selection isn’t Puig’s problem. Via BrooksBaseball.net, here’s a look at which pitches Puig has been swinging at since August 1:
This chart leaves some room to complain about Puig expanding his zone, for sure. But with the exception of the pitch below the knees and over the plate, Puig is swinging at pitches in the zone more often than pitches out of the zone. Patience might be a problem, but it isn’t the only problem.
Here’s the bigger problem:
With the exception of pitches around his knees, Puig is batting below .300 since August 1. Anything higher or lower, and he gets into trouble.
Using the sample size of 123 plate appearances since August 1 makes it dangerous to draw too many conclusions about which pitch types and pitchers are giving Puig the most trouble. If you want to have fun with small sample sizes, have at it.
The point of this exercise was to show that Puig needs more than just discipline at the plate; he needs to get back to driving pitches in the strike zone for hits.