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In the midst of an absolutely horrible start to the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cuban sensation Yasiel Puig has brought the focus back to Hollywood for all the right reasons thanks to his electrifying start.

On the off chance you haven’t seen or heard what he has been doing, Puig, 22, has been white-hot since being called up from Double-A Chattanooga on June 3 before a series against San Diego.

He is currently hitting .500 (16-for-32) with two doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI, a .515 on-base percentage and .938 slugging percentage. He also has two outfield assists, one on a game-ending throw from near the warning track in right field to double up San Diego’s Chris Denorfia off first base. 

One player on his own isn’t going to turn the fortunes of an entire baseball team. As great as Puig has been on the field, the Dodgers are just 4-4 in the eight games he has played and have lost three straight.

Jon Morosi of Fox Sports noted on Twitter what Puig’s play has done for the Dodgers in the National League West standings. 

Yasiel Puig is hitting .500, but the Dodgers have gained 0 games in the standings since his debut. He can’t do it alone.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 11, 2013

That doesn’t mean Puig isn’t having a profound impact on both the Dodgers and sports in the city of Los Angeles.

You have to fight to get attention in a place like Hollywood, and if you are not a serious championship contender, those fans will turn away in a heartbeat. On Monday night, with “Puigmania” still on the rise and Clayton Kershaw, arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now, on the mound, announced attendance was 38,275. I was watching that game and saw the stands; there is no way that 38,000 people were at Dodgers Stadium on Monday night.

That means the Dodgers, who have spent over $200 million to field a team this season, are already starting to lose their fanbase after entering the season with such high expectations.

So how does Puig factor into all of this?

While it is nearly impossible for any one player to single-handedly turn around a franchise, as long as Puig keeps doing what he has been doing, showing off electrifying baseball skills that make him must-see television every night, the Dodgers will benefit, regardless of what their record might be.

That isn’t to say that Puig will hit .500 the rest of the season, because he won’t. But he certainly has better tools now than he ever showed prior to signing last year or moving through the minors.

Puig fascinates us because of what he can do on the field, but as Billy Witz of the New York Times noted, the mystery of this young outfielder is just as compelling:

The intrigue in Puig goes beyond his name, his frame (6 feet 3 inches, 245 pounds) and his game, which have prompted comparisons with Bo Jackson, Sammy Sosa and Mike Trout. Much of the curiosity surrounding Puig is how little is known about him, something he prefers to keep that way.

Witz notes that Puig met with his family after a game last Saturday and didn’t want them to answer questions.

That cloud of mystery can only help to elevate Puig’s allure.

Think about it: The biggest movies and pop-culture events every year are the release of big-budget summer blockbusters like Iron Man, The Dark Knight, The Avengers and Man of Steel.

What do those movies all have in common, aside from the usual action set piece with a bunch of things that go boom? They are all carried by at least one performance from a person whose story and journey is a mystery, even to those closest to him.

Puig has given the Dodgers their own version of Iron Man, Batman or Superman. He is built like a truck at 6’3″, 245 pounds, with the kind of speed you see from a track star and power that very few players in baseball can match.

He has developed such a huge cult following that there are already Chuck Norris-like jokes floating around about all the things that Puig can do.

Diamond Hoggers, from the blog of the same name, posted this quip on Twitter about how scary Puig is at the plate and in right field at this moment.

The boogeyman checks for Yasiel Puig under his bed before he goes to sleep.

— Diamond Hoggers (@DiamondHoggers) June 11, 2013

Since we already talked about pop-culture, it is important to note that Puig has already made a bit of a dent in that vain. As Dave Pomerantz posted on Twitter, there is a certain mythical creature from South Park who has been re-imagined to fit the legend of Puig. 

@bill_tpa may I interest you in a T-shirt? #ManBearPuig twitter.com/DavePomerantz/…

— Dave Pomerantz (@DavePomerantz) June 9, 2013

Stephen Gaffga, a Yankee fan on Twitter, made a timely joke about the power that Puig has not only in baseball circles, but also over a certain NFL team that just made a rather notable signing recently. 

@thebiglead Tebow is in league because Yasiel Puig made a phone call to Belichick.

— Stephen Gaffga (@yankey4eva) June 11, 2013

This gives the Dodgers and the city of Los Angeles something to market around. Puig is not immediately going to be the next Fernando Valenzuela from a marketing perspective, just because when “Fernandomania” started in 1981, the Dodgers were one of the best teams in baseball and played in the World Series against the New York Yankees.

That stage certainly helped propel Valenzuela into the star he would become, but Puig has a much better chance of sustaining his new-found success for a longer period of time. Remember, Valenzuela was done as a top-tier starting pitcher at the age of 26.

Not only does Puig give Los Angeles the star it needs, especially with Matt Kemp and seemingly every other position player in the Dodgers lineup slumping, to generate interest, but it can be a huge event that lasts through the rest of the season and into 2014 and beyond. 

There is a burning desire to see baseball succeed in Los Angeles, from fans who love the team, to ownership that spent several fortunes buying the team and a couple more to put this group together, to Major League Baseball, which would love to have the L.A. market back in the playoffs.

While success may not come in 2013, Puig and the attention that his incredible play right out of the gate has generated will make baseball in Los Angeles relevant the rest of the season. Dodgers games and Puig at-bats have become must-see events, which might actually be more beneficial in some respects than winning games.

Los Angeles is a city that will show up when a team is winning, but it is also a place that is attracted to stars above all else. Puig is bringing that passion and fire out in Dodgers fans who have felt let down by what they have seen so far.

The future is bright in Los Angeles, and Puig is the star of the show.

If you want to talk baseball, feel free to hit me up on Twitter with questions or comments.

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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has only been in the majors for one day, so it makes sense that the first response to my question on Twitter/Facebook, “Who does Puig most remind you of?”, was Moonlight Graham, who played in one major league game for the New York Giants in 1905 and was later portrayed in the movie Field of Dreams.

It’s clear, though, that an athlete with Puig‘s size, speed and strength combination reminds baseball fans of only a few players who compare in some way or another. Many baseball experts hate comps for several reasons, including unnecessary expectations on young players. But baseball fans love comps, especially because it can take us back to another era.

Even better if it takes us back to our childhood.

Starting with the amazing game-ending throw in his big league debut that everyone seems to be talking about, it’s only fair to bring up some of the most strong-armed right fielders of all time. And since he’s wearing the same uniform, the Raul Mondesi comp would be a fair start.

1. Raul Mondesi

Mondesi, who had an .815 OPS and two 30-30 seasons (30-plus homers and 30-plus stolen bases) in 1,525 career games, was probably best known for having a cannon of an arm in right field. In fact, he has a tattoo of a cannon on his right arm, and that arm even has a nickname, “El Canon,” which means “the cannon.”

Roberto Clemente and Ichiro Suzuki also come to mind when thinking of players who could make that kind of strong and accurate throw from the warning track. 

2. Bo Jackson

The name we’ve heard most associated with the 22-year-old Puig is Bo Jackson (6’1″, 227 lbs), maybe one of the greatest athletes of all time.

It’s an unfair comp for any baseball player, but this comp is mostly based on his football player-like physique. While Jackson was also a powerful NFL running back with elite speed, Puig looks more like a linebacker. But the kind of linebacker who can go sideline-to-sideline in a flash and put a serious hurting on a ball-carrier. Sort of like Ray Lewis (6’1″, 245 lbs) or Patrick Willis (6’1″, 240 lbs). 

3. Vladimir Guerrero

Puig is taller, though, at 6’3″, the same height as another comp suggested by multiple readers. Not only was Vladimir Guerrero a freak of nature with his speed and power combination—he had eight seasons with 30-plus homers and 77 stolen bases from 2001-2002—but he also had the plus arm in right field and was considered an undisciplined free-swinger when he broke into the majors in his early 20s.

He was also one of the rare hitters who proved that it didn’t matter. He could do damage on pitches outside of the strike zone as some think Puig can also do.

During his prime, Guerrero still walked a lot (84 walks in 2002), but that was mostly because pitchers weren’t giving him anything close to the plate once he built up a reputation for being able to hit almost any pitch hard. He also never struck out more than 88 times in any of his 16 big league seasons, which included nine All-Star selections and an AL MVP award in 2004.

4. Yoenis Cespedes

The active player that Puig has been compared to the most is fellow Cuban Yoenis Cespedes, who broke into the majors at 26 years of age in 2012 with 23 homers and 16 stolen bases while hitting in the middle of an A’s lineup that scored the most runs in the majors over the second half of the season.

Cespedes also looks like a football player in a baseball uniform, although he’s five inches shorter than Puig at 5’10”. Like Cespedes, he received the unfair Bo Jackson comps coming into his rookie season, but he lived up to a lot of hype by coming in second in AL Rookie of the Year voting and 10th in AL MVP voting.

Other notable mentions on Twitter were Carlos Beltran (.857 OPS, 306 stolen bases in 16 seasons), Joe Carter (396 HR, 231 stolen bases in 16 seasons) and Sammy Sosa (.878 OPS, 234 stolen bases in 18 seasons). If Puig, who went 2-for-4 in his MLB debut, can come anywhere close to what those guys accomplished in their careers, he’ll be remembered for more than just his potential.

What hitting coach Mark McGwire first observed about Puig back in spring training was his intelligence and ability to make adjustments, according to this article by Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.

If he’s going to become a star, it’s that ability to make adjustments that will allow him to reach the potential we’ve been hearing so much about since he signed his seven-year, $42 million big league contract last June.  

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Hanley Ramirez will return to the lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers today after sustaining a hamstring injury in early May, the team announced via Twitter:

In 2012, the three-time All-Star hit .271 with 10 home runs, 44 RBI, 30 runs and seven stolen bases in 64 games after being acquired by the Dodgers before the trade deadline. Los Angeles was hoping he would regain his All-Star form alongside August acquisitions Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, but he’s only played four games so far in 2013.

The 29-year-old shortstop, who was last an All-Star with the Miami Marlins in 2010, played in only 92 games in 2011 due to a shoulder injury. This year, he got injured running the bases on May 3.

Last season, the Dodgers went a combined 28-26 in August and September despite the acquisitions of Ramirez, Gonzalez, Crawford and right-hander Josh Beckett.

This season, it’s been even worse. Not only has it been a rocky campaign for summer signing Zack Greinke (4.80 ERA, fractured his collarbone in a brawl with San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin in April), the Dodgers are bottom-feeders in the National League West. This is despite grandiose expectations in the preseason.

Despite some big names in the lineup, they have been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball this season. Interestingly enough, Gonzalez and Crawford have bounced back, while two-time All-Star Matt Kemp has regressed.

In the midst of an ugly season, Los Angeles would love to see Ramirez rebound, as Gonzalez and Crawford have. This offense needs all the help it can get.

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Now is the time for Yasiel Puig to get his first crack at the big leagues.

The Los Angeles Dodgers need something, anything, to turn around a 2013 season that is slowly getting away from them.

The time is right to bring in the organization’s top prospect. It just might happen too, as the Dodgers are considering making the move, according to CBS Sports’ MLB insider Jon Heyman:

Puig (pronounced Pweeg) is indeed said by sources connected to the Dodgers to be “under consideration” for a call-up after initial word from manager Don Mattingly initially was interpreted by the media to mean that they were going to pass this time on both their top outfield prospects, Puig and Joc Pederson. And Puig was switched to center field for Thursday in what looks like a clear signal just how seriously the Dodgers are considering his callup.

Puig has been playing phenomenal baseball in the minors, garnering the attention of both local and national media. He received increased attention after exploding on Thursday night while playing center field.

ESPN SiruisXM co-host Jim Bowden pondered whether or not his move to center and remarkable stat-line are an indicator of a pending move (via Twitter):

No call-up has ensued following his 3-for-4, one-RBI, two stolen bases and two-run performance during that Thursday night ballgame.

However, it wouldn’t be shocking to see something happen in the near future.

Bernie Pleskoff, a MLB.com writer and scout, said Puig has a similar physique and abilities to former standout player Bo Jackson.

Specifically, Pleskoff highlighted his aggression at the plate, “good eye-hand coordination” and fast hands which allow him to drive the ball to anywhere on the field.

His physique is what has people buzzing the most and drawing Jackson comparisons.

Puig stands at 6’3” and weighs 245 lbs. Despite his large size, the 22-year-old prospect doesn’t lose any athletic edge. In fact, his physical attributes are off the charts. Stealing bases and covering ground in the outfield won’t be a problem at the next level—at least from a physical standpoint.

Pleskoff, who scouted Puig in the minors, said there are some things he still needs to work on:

Improved plate discipline and pitch recognition are among the components of Puig‘s offense that need more seasoning… Defensively… He has to continue to work on recognizing the flight of the ball off the bat more quickly. Puig also has to continue to gain accuracy on his throws. His basic skills project Puig to be an average outfielder. 

Whatever ends up happening in the near future, Puig looks to have the measurables and ability to develop into a major star. The Dodgers shouldn’t rush things to help fix an immediate need, but there is no denying the predicament they are currently in.

It’s also hard to imagine the youngster not having a positive effect for the limping Dodgers. Matt Kemp is on the 15-day disabled list and the team desperately needs someone to fill the void until he gets back.

This is, without a doubt, the best time to test Puig’s progress and give him a sizeable amount of major league action. Los Angeles is fading; they have to do something to help energize their dugout in order to avoid falling further behind the talented NL West.

Puig‘s plate aggression and base-running ability could help lead a late-first-half resurgence that would propel the Dodgers back into contention before the All-Star break. There is plenty of time to get things back on track. Making this move at this point in time is the best option for Don Mattingly.

It’s a win-win; a move the Dodgers have to pull the trigger on.

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From misplayed fly balls in center field to an 0-for-5, four-strikeout game at the plate, it’s safe to say that the Los Angeles Dodgers won in spite of Matt Kemp on Memorial Day.

As the fans of both Los Angeles franchises piled into Dodger Stadium for the Freeway Series, it would have been easy to overlook the struggles, both last evening and for the entirety of the 2013 campaign, of Kemp. After all, it’s hard to find more than a few players in the entire town playing up to or above expectations.

Despite the disappointing start to the season by both teams, the Dodger faithful had had enough on this night, booing Matt Kemp during his at-bats, at one point when the count reached two strikes in anticipation of the impending strikeout.

Of course, Kemp is struggling mightily. After finishing second in the 2011 NL MVP vote and signing a lucrative long-term deal, the Dodgers’ center fielder was supposed to be a linchpin, along with starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, in Los Angeles’ run to the top of the NL West.

Instead, Kemp has been a below-average offensive player, posting a career-worst slugging percentage and an OPS (.637) that ranks 60th among 66 qualified outfielders this season.

If the boos and jeers were intended to spur on better play from Kemp, the tactic could backfire for the hometown crowd.

Although it’s early and sample sizes are still too small to conclude much from, Kemp has hit much better away from Dodger Stadium than he has at home. His .748 road OPS isn’t spectacular by any means, but it’s leaps and bounds better than the .537 mark in front of the fans at Chavez Ravine.

While booing is a longtime tradition in sports, the reasons for it can vary from case to case. It’s unlikely that Kemp isn’t giving 100 percent to snap out of his slump. If heart and desire were being questioned in Los Angeles, the jeers would be far more justified.

Instead, a lingering shoulder condition is much more likely the reason for Kemp’s power outage and issues at the dish in 2013.

As pointed out in a tremendous piece by Peter Gammons this weekend for Baseball Analytics, Kemp’s injury issues in 2012 were culminated with a labrum tear and rotator cuff issue suffered when crashing into a wall in late August against Colorado.

While Kemp’s shoulder has been surgically repaired, it can take a good deal of time for the strength and comfort to return. As a right-handed hitter, the left shoulder acts as Kemp’s lead shoulder when hitting. It’s clear that he’s not swinging through the baseball with his lead arm the way he did in 2011.

Booing the star of a poor Dodgers team won’t motivate Kemp beyond the motivation he already takes to the field on a daily basis. In fact, if he’s still hurting or not strong enough to get the job done at the level expected, it could lead to him pressing at the plate or playing through soreness, potentially damaging the shoulder again or delaying the full healing process.

Ultimately, when talking injuries, poor play from the entire team and the cloud hanging over manager Don Mattingly’s head, it’s futile to waste time and energy chiding Kemp.

Over the course of the next few months, he’s one of the players that can carry the Dodgers out of their funk and back into contention (if his shoulder allows it).  

Fans are fickle, demand success and can become frustrated when expectations aren’t met, but Kemp is far from the only problem.

But he could be the solution.

If Dodgers fans are lucky, the boos will motivate him. If they’re not, the town runs the risk of a star player doubting his skills and ability in his own park.

In a season of disappointment, that would rank up there with the worst developments for the 2013 Dodgers.

Comment below, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk all things baseball!

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To say it’s been a bumpy road for the Dodgers this season would be a vast understatement. It’s been an oil-slicked road filled with gaping potholes and fallen power lines.

Just over a quarter of the way into the season, the Blue Crew is a pitiful 19-26, has been marred by injuries to key players and has been dealing with undermining questions from the media about manager Don Mattingly.

To add insult to injury, the team hasn’t seen a record of .500 or better in May, commencing the month with a disastrous eight-game losing streak.

Yet, this talent-filled team always reserves the potential to do something spectacular, to rise from the ashes with a vengeance.

As they continue to sort out their newly minted lineup, what can the Dodgers do to get back to an even record and beyond before it’s too late?

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Stop me if you have heard this one before, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending a lot of money in 2013 and not seeing expected results. This is, unfortunately, an obvious and frustrating reality for fans in the City of Angels.

However, consider the makeup of this roster. Some players are not performing to their ability. Others are simply overpaid, either because they have aged or because they were given too much money  compared to their actual production and value.

Picking an overpaid team is obviously tricky because there may be some players that are doing “well” but are still compensated above what they should be paid. For better or for worse, the new ownership group has given plenty of people generous contracts, as well as traded for some guys that others teams were happy to shed from a financial standpoint.

With that in mind, here are a few players that fit onto the overpaid team for a variety of reasons.

Josh Beckett

Salary: $17 million

Stats: 0-5, 5.19 ERA 

Beckett is the poster child for an overpaid former star who is an eyesore on a roster that is not producing. Truthfully, the Dodgers should not have taken Beckett from the Boston Red Sox. Why do I feel like the Dodgers had to take Beckett if Boston was going to do this deal?

Matt Kemp & Andre Ethier

Combined Salary: $33.8 million

Stats: .270/2/17 (Kemp), .264/4/15 (Ethier)

Matt Kemp is just not producing up to expectations. Andre Ethier was rewarded with a contract that was not a wise choice by management. Perhaps Kemp will rebound and live up to the hype, but Ethier is unlikely to produce $85 million worth of offense in the next five years.

Hanley Ramirez & Zack Greinke

Combined Salary: $36.5 million

Stats: Four games (Ramirez), Four starts (Greinke)

Call this the all-injured section of the all-overpaid team. You don’t necessarily blame a guy for being hurt, but when there is this much money on the disabled list, it is hard to ignore. Perhaps Ramirez will return and start producing. Now that Greinke is back, maybe the investment will start paying off. We’ll see.

Adrian Gonzalez & Carl Crawford

Combined Salary: $42.7 million

Stats: .309/4/30 (Gonzalez), .302/5/13 (Crawford)

I know what you are going to say. Why am I picking on the two guys that are actually hitting? Simple. They are still overpaid. No, I am not just making a philosophical statement about salaries in professional sports, though with these guys I could. The Dodgers are just paying almost $43 million for nine home runs. Crawford isn’t getting the RBI and Gonzalez isn’t putting balls in the seats.

Total damage

I could go on. Ted Lilly. Chad Billingsley. Brandon League. Juan Uribe. It is not hard to find guys on this roster that are making good money but not producing.

According to spotrac.com, the Dodgers are actually committed to paying over $232 million in 2013. At the moment, there is almost $47 million in payroll on the disabled list.

$232 million for a last-place team.

Again, you can’t blame guys for getting hurt. However, in the long run that trade with Boston along with the generous contracts that have been handed out by new management have created this situation. The payroll number is very large, and obviously aspects of this team are simply underachieving.

However, when you dig a little deeper, it isn’t hard to figure out that certain parts of this team just aren’t that good. There is a correlation between teams that spend a lot of money and playoff appearances. Perhaps this team will build some momentum and start winning.

Unfortunately, we already knew this simple reality: Money cannot buy championships.

Follow @tpheifer

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Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke is 15-0 with a 2.89 ERA in 24 games at Miller Park, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks Tuesday as he prepares to take on the Milwaukee Brewers.

Sports bettors will find that the Dodgers are -130 road favorites in the pro baseball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total sits at 8.5 in the market.

Let’s take a closer look at this National League affair from a betting perspective, while offering up a prediction along the way.

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When Zack Greinke broke his collarbone in a collision with a very angry Carlos Quentin last month, the word was that the Los Angeles Dodgers would have to make do without their $147 million right-hander for eight weeks.

So much for that. Greinke’s going to be back a lot sooner, and not a moment too soon as far as the Dodgers are concerned. They could use a good pick-me-up.

If you haven’t heard, well, here are the Dodgers:

Greinke last started on April 11 and had surgery a few days later, so an eight-week stay on the DL has turned into a five-week stay. A pleasant surprise if there ever was one.

I thought about entertaining the notion that Greinke’s return could be what the Dodgers need to get them back toward the top of the NL West, but only for about, oh, five seconds. The Dodgers have been a mess in the month of May, and Greinke is only one guy. A starting pitcher, at that. He’s only going to be able to help so much.

As for how much Greinke can help the Dodgers, the only thing that’s certain is that he won’t be any worse than the various fill-ins the club has had to plug in during his absence.

In fact, Greinke racked up more value in two starts than a number of other Dodgers starters have all season. Consider his FanGraphs WAR compared to the WAR compiled by some of his comrades:

Despite the fact he’s been gone for the last month, the only Dodgers starters with higher fWARs than Greinke are Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu. That gives you an idea how well Greinke was pitching before Quentin decided to give him a good whooping.

But are the Dodgers actually going to get that version of Greinke back?

It’s a good question. I frankly don’t remember the last time a pitcher suffered an injury like Greinke’s, and neither Google nor Baseball Prospectus’ transactions browser proved to be much help.

However, Bleacher Report injury expert Will Carroll took a look at the situation last month and wrote that Greinke should have “no real trouble” in his return. His word is good enough for me.

And since Greinke should be OK when he comes back from the DL, I’m willing to take his rest-of-season projections at face value. From FanGraphs:

There’s a disagreement here on the number of starts and innings Greinke is going to rack up the rest of the way, but the performance-based numbers are about the same. 

And that’s good, because those numbers are solid. They say that it should be win day when Grienke pitches for the Dodgers from here on out.

But that’s obviously where the “only a starting pitcher” part comes into play.

The Dodgers are seven games under .500 heading into their Tuesday night matchup against the Washington Nationals. Greinke could come back, make 25 starts and the Dodgers could win every single one of them and break even elsewhere, and you’re only talking about an 18-game swing that would make them a 90-win team. The San Francisco Giants, meanwhile, are on a 98-win pace.

And of course, it’s silly to think that the Dodgers will win every single one of Greinke’s starts the rest of the way. To even have a shot at the 90-win plateau, they’re going to have to win the majority of his starts and do better than break even in games started by everyone else. 

That’s the long way of saying the Dodgers need to actually become a good team, which is something they haven’t been this season for darn good reasons. Greinke’s injury was the start of an unfortunate trend that wrecked the Dodgers’ starting rotation, and the club’s offense has left much to be desired from the get-go.

General manager Ned Colletti could do his club a big favor at the trade deadline by going out and getting a Cliff Lee or another stud, but there’s not a whole lot anyone can do besides cross his or her fingers in regard to the offense. The Dodgers need a few things to pan out.

One: Hanley Ramirez has to get healthy and stay healthy. He can be the guy who provides some much-needed thump on the left side of the Dodgers infield, which has combined to produce only five homers this season.

Two: Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier need to start earning their money. Especially Kemp, whose power has been missing all season and hasn’t really shown signs of returning. After posting a 0.83 ISO in April, he has just a 0.44 ISO in May (see FanGraphs).

Assuming he picks up about where he left off, Greinke’s return is going to help the Dodgers get back in the National League playoff picture. But they fell in a deep hole while he was gone, and his return is only going to answer one question out of many.

But look at it this way, Dodgers fans. ESPN.com has the team’s chances of making the playoffs at an even six percent. The only way to go is up.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter. 

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Yesterday, I wrote about the disappointing starts of the Angels (12-22, 9 games back in the AL West) and Dodgers (13-20, 6 games back in the NL West), and why ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden’s ideas on how to fix them probably weren’t realistic due to the lack of impact prospects and overall depth in each team’s farm system.

The best bet at this point is for each team to hang on long enough until they’re back to full health and then make a late-season run. In case you haven’t been paying attention, both teams have lost key players to injuries and haven’t been able to replace them adequately because of the aforementioned lack of depth.

By the end of this month, though, the Angels should have ace Jered Weaver, out since the sixth game of the season with a fractured elbow, back in the rotation. Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke, also out since his second start (fractured collarbone), could return as soon as next week. 

Will either pitcher’s return be enough to ignite a fire the way that Mike Trout did when he joined a lackluster Angels squad in late April 2012? 

Jered Weaver’s Impact on the Angels

The Angels’ left side of the infield, Erick Aybar and Alberto Callaspo, have already been on the disabled list with injuries.

Albert Pujols has avoided the disabled list but has been playing with plantar fasciitis, a painful foot injury, and has recently been dealing with soreness in his surgically-repaired knee. The 33-year-old has a .722 OPS overall and is five for his last 32 since getting a four-hit game (nine plate appearances) in a 19-inning loss on April 29. At some point, he could miss some time.

Free-agent signee Josh Hamilton isn’t hurt, but he might as well have been. Through Tuesday, the 31-year-old was hitting .202 with a .535 OPS. He’s homered in back-to-back games, though, and also doubled, singled and walked so there’s a chance the offense could be in the midst of a much-needed boost.

It won’t be enough, however, if the pitching staff doesn’t get it together soon. The rotation is 26^th in the majors in ERA (4.90). The bullpen, without projected closer Ryan Madson as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, and top setup man Sean Burnett (forearm inflammation), is 23^rd in the majors with a 4.24 ERA.

There are problems throughout the roster, but can Weaver’s return make a significant impact?

If he pitches like he did in 2012, then the answer is “yes.” The 30-year-old, who signed a five-year, $85 million contract extension in August 2011, pitched into the seventh inning and beyond in 19 of his 30 starts and allowed more than three earned runs just five times. That’s how you indirectly help your offense and your bullpen—by taking pressure off of them to do too much. It’s not a surprise that the Angels won 23 of Weaver’s starts.

Zack Greinke’s Impact on the Dodgers

The Dodgers are the 2013 poster child for the “you can never have enough pitching” cliché. With eight big league starters on their roster to start the year, they had the sort of problem that most teams would love to have.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last.

Since none of the eight could be stashed in the minors, one began the season in the bullpen before being traded shortly after for a backup catcher, Ramon Hernandez, who had been designated for assignment.

Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly began the year on the disabled list. Both returned since and then went back on with Billingsley undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery and Lilly straining his rib cage. Chris Capuano has also spent time on the disabled list.

But the biggest loss has been Zack Greinke, their prized free agent, who formed half of what could be, arguably, the best one-two punch in the majors along with Clayton Kershaw. Since Greinke fractured his collarbone during a bench-clearing brawl, the Dodgers have gone 7-17 and dropped into the NL West cellar.

A lineup that is 28^th in the majors in runs scored certainly hasn’t helped much. Neither has the bullpen, which is 27^th in ERA (4.71 ERA). But a rotation led by Kershaw, Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu (3.71 ERA, 43.2 IP, 41 H, 12 BB, 48 K) has the ability to make up for the other deficiencies on the roster, at least until they can improve. 

In 2012, Greinke pitched into the seventh inning and beyond in 20 of his 34 starts and allowed three earned runs or less in 24 of those. His teams (Brewers/Angels) went 21-13 when he started. If you don’t think having the 29-year-old Greinke on the mound every fifth day will make a huge difference, you’re mistaken. 

For one, they can send the rookie Matt Magill back to the minors.

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