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LOS ANGELES – Gone are the days of pure hatred, the ones that caused Jackie Robinson to retire rather than play for the rival club, incited epic brawls and sparked beanball wars.

But the rivalry is not dead. Far from it. The fire still exists, as does the success.

Between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, five division titles and three World Series championships have been won in the last five seasons. Each team has had a National League MVP in the last three seasons and a combined five Cy Young Awards in the last seven.

They also play in two of the more gorgeous ballparks in the game—one with an aged charm nestled in a mountainous backdrop, the other a state-of-the-art joint sitting on a bay.

“They have a great place there, but so do we,” Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke said Sunday, two days before the Dodgers’ trip to San Francisco for the teams’ first meeting this season on Tuesday. 

Three World Series runs in five years by the Giants and three consecutive division titles by the Dodgers have given this rivalry a new bounce in its step. But because players shuttle from one team to another on a yearly basis and guys become offseason acquaintances, some of the heat has been extracted from every major league rivalry.

This one is no different, as the two teams have a combined 22 players that are either brand new or relatively new to the rivalry. And aside from Yasiel Puig and maybe Madison Bumgarner, there really are no players on either side that extract authentic venom from the other side, since Buster Posey and Clayton Kershaw are more vanilla superstars.

“Obviously there’s a rivalry,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “You can feel it. There’s intensity that’s different when we play them. 

“As far as players changing teams, that happens all over baseball. So every rivalry is going to feel the turnover. But the fans never change sides.”

And that is where any rivalry truly lives—in the stands, in the bars, among the diehards.

While there have been rare and extreme examples of this rivalry tragically spilling into the fandom—the Bryan Stow beating and the stabbing fatality of Jonathan Denver—fans now argue about things like the Dodgers trying to “buy” a title, or the Giants getting “lucky” in October, and of course, which stadium is a better place to take in a ballgame.

These debates are never truly settled, but Giants fans currently hold the trump card with those three championships that have turned Dodger fans into short-term lovers of the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals over the last five Octobers.

Sitting in the stands of these games, particularly in the outfield bleachers of either stadium, you understand the fervor. While fans usually refrain from wasting beer or souvenirs on players, they loudly spew their hatred with insults aimed at outfielders. And inning after inning, as the visiting team’s fans dare to move about the other team’s stadium, they endure insults unfit for juvenile ears.

“They definitely get a little meaner up there than in other cities,” Van Slyke said of patrolling the outfield at AT&T Park. “And I’m sure their guys hear it when they come here, too.”

The rivalry will evolve in the coming years. The Dodgers and Giants are both pulling in revenue at incredible levels, and while the Dodgers’ ownership has shown a complete willingness to spend it, the Giants’ ownership group has been more reluctant, although they still have a current payroll north of $170 million.

The Dodgers spent part of their last offseason acquiring front-office people to run their club. Andrew Friedman left the Tampa Bay Rays to become the Dodgers president of baseball operations. He then brought in a team of others to fall in line behind him, and together, they are seen as one of the brightest, most analytical front offices in the game today.

Meanwhile, the Giants, known to have a more traditionally run front office, recently reworked their configuration to make former GM Brian Sabean the team’s executive VP of baseball ops through 2019 and former assistant GM Bobby Evans the new GM. Assuming the Giants’ top brass gives the go-ahead to spend more money to keep up with their rivals in the near future, Sabean and Evans will remain the men who determine which players the team will invest in. 

The game’s economics make roster turnover a part of the sport as much as bat flips and beer, but that does not mean rivalries cannot remain heated. And when both teams are fighting for the same kind of success, it is bound to remain as such.

This week’s three-game series in San Francisco is the latest chapter in what has become one of the sport’s best rivalries, on and off the field.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig suffered a hamstring injury. He was ruled out of the lineup against the Seattle Mariners on April 14, and it is unclear when he will be available to return.

Continue for updates. 

Puig Out vs. Mariners

Tuesday, April 14

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported Puig would miss the Dodgers’ game against the Mariners on Tuesday with a hamstring injury. Shaikin previously noted Puig suffered from hamstring tightness on Monday.

Even though the Dodgers have a loaded roster, their outfield isn’t as strong as it used to be. Puig is the clear standout with Matt Kemp in San Diego. Carl Crawford has had moments but isn’t what he used to be. Andre Ethier is best used as a platoon player. Joc Pederson is loaded with talent but is still a rookie who will face growing pains. 

Puig‘s ability to get on base, hit for power and create plays with his legs make him valuable to the lineup. The Dodgers may not need to score a lot of runs with their pitching staff, but if they have to do so without their dynamic playmaker for any length of time, things could turn sour in a hurry.  

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In news that comes as a body blow to baseball and American sports at large, Yasiel Puig says he plans to cut back drastically on the trademark bat flips fans have come to know and love him for.

The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder told the Los Angeles Times‘ Dylan Hernandez his bat-flipping detente comes as a response to those who perceive his habit of tossing away the lumber after a long hit as disrespectful.

“I want to show American baseball that I’m not disrespecting the game,” Puig said in Spanish. “… I don’t [flip my bat] because I lack respect. I do that because of the emotions I have.”

The Cuban defector showed fans his new, flip-less side on Monday after homering in the Dodgers’ 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners. He held the bat out for a flip through force of habit but elected to drop the wood at his side. 

It’s absurd that Puig—a player in a league that deals with rampant PED usage, petty plunk battles and drunk driving issues on a consistent basis—would feel guilt over his preferred method of discarding a bat. That he’s going out of his way to conform to a vocal minority is either a testament to his own desire to please baseball snobs or additional evidence that baseball is a sport that forgot it was a sport.

There are bigger threats to the “sanctity of the game” than a young ballplayer upending his bat in a fit of joy, and, unsurprisingly, fans of Puig and the bat flip are already rallying for its return to his repertoire. 

Sarah Wexler, a Dodgers fan and bat-flip enthusiast, has gone as far as making a Change.org petition asking for Puig to “ignore the haters and batflip your heart out.”

Wexler writes that bat-flipping is the gift that keeps on giving, and the joyless purists who decry the practice make it all the more satisfying.

Batflipping is exciting. It’s entertaining. It’s harmless (well, except to those with fragile egos). For some reason, fogies who hate fun hate batflips, which in turn makes them even more fun. …

You know who disrespects the game? People who believe that “respect” for the game means players should all be stiff, emotionless and, well, entirely uninteresting. People who insist that there’s one right way to do things and, in effect, erase the many different baseball cultures throughout the world.

On the bright side, Puig says he may still flip his bat on occasion, if the moment is big enough.

“If it’s a big home run or if I’m frustrated because I couldn’t connect in my previous at-bats or if I drive in important runs for my team, I might do it,” Puig said. “You never know. I can’t say I won’t do it.”

Do it, Puig. I don’t care if it’s on a dribbler to the pitcher—you grip that bat and flip it up into the troposphere. Baseball needs it.

Dan is on Twitter. Don’t be held down by The Man, Yasiel.

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Aside from starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, no player may mean more to the Los Angeles Dodgers than outfielder Yasiel Puig. Losing him to injury is about the last thing the team needs to happen.

Continue below for updates.

Puig Exits vs. Angels After Collision 

Thursday, April 2

The Dodgers announced that Puig left Thursday’s game after colliding with Howie Kendrick on a pop fly to shallow right field. Dodgers reporter Alanna Rizzo reported after the game that Puig was hit in the neck/throat area and appears to be fine. Puig expects to be available for Friday’s game, per MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez.

Although Puig hasn’t been able to replicate the form he showed after hitting the majors in 2013, his combination of skill and eccentricity makes him one of the most fun players to watch in the league.

The 24-year-old is coming off a 2014 season in which he hit .296/.382/.480 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI. According to FanGraphs, his 5.3 WAR was the highest on the team among batters.

It will be important for Puig to make a speedy recovery, as 2015 is shaping up to be a vital year for his development. His numbers dropped off a bit in the second half of last season, and he’s yet to fully translate his raw ability to the field.

If he can put it all together, however, he has the potential to become an MVP-caliber player.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers underwent their first full workout of spring training this week, officially turning the page on a busy offseason and opening the 2015 chapter with high hopes.

Succumbing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs for a second straight year prompted the franchise to rethink its overall philosophy last October. Ownership opted to hire an entirely new front office, headed by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi, shortly after the postseason defeat.

This analytic-minded duo wasted little time revamping the roster, trading away fan favorites Matt Kemp and Dee Gordon while allowing Hanley Ramirez to walk via free agency in an effort to improve defense, chemistry and financial flexibility.

Spring training games against other MLB opponents at Camelback Ranch don’t begin until March 4, but the Boys in Blue are eager to see what their new—and hopefully improved—roster can do on the field.

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After months of speculation over where he would land and for how much, Cuban sensation Yoan Moncada has agreed to terms with the Boston Red Sox on a deal that will pay him a bonus worth something in the neighborhood of $30 million, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.

That’s a record amount for an international amateur player under the current signing rules and regulations, dwarfing the $8.27 million bonus the Arizona Diamondbacks gave right-hander Yoan Lopez earlier this offseason.

By just about all accounts, Moncada, a switch-hitting 19-year-old infielder with five-tool talent, should be worth it.

The question becomes: Now that he’s with the Red Sox, how long will it take Moncada, who won’t turn 20 until May 27, to make it to the majors and become MLB’s next great Cuban star? 

Here’s Ben Badler of Baseball America on Moncada‘s specs, comps and potential:

6-foot, 210-pound switch-hitting infielder who’s the best teenager to leave Cuba since Jorge Soler, a player with exciting tools and dominance of the Cuban junior leagues on par with what Yasiel Puig did at the same age. …

How good is Moncada? … If [he] were eligible for the 2015 draft, he would be in the mix to be the No. 1 overall pick.

And prospect guru Jim Callis had this to say about Moncada, via MLB.com:

He’s really, really good. He’s not on the Top 100 Prospects list because he’s not signed yet. But were he to sign, I think he’d be in the top 10 somewhere—he’s that good.

You’re talking about a 19-year-old, switch-hitting middle infielder who hits for average, has power, above-average runner, good arm. I think the only question on him is he’s not really a shortstop, maybe more of a second baseman or third baseman.

So Moncada‘s talent is elite, his skill set broad.

As for his statistics, the numbers from Serie Nacional, Cuba’s top professional league, indicate he has yet to fully grow into his power (.380 slugging percentage in two seasons). But at his age, there’s plenty of time to develop that element.

What’s especially intriguing about Moncada‘s profile, again based on the numbers, is that he’s shown a knack for getting on base (.388 on-base percentage), which isn’t often a forte for young players still learning nuances of the game, particularly those who have played in Latin America. That alone is promising.

The fact Moncada is now part of a major league organization will only help get him on the path to reaching The Show.

For one, he’ll get to experience spring training over the next several weeks, which means he’ll be open to the highest level of instruction, training and coaching right away. That’s no small benefit as Moncada adjusts to a new everything—country, culture, language, teammates, media, etc.

Given that the Red Sox have invested so much in Moncada—in the end, the bonus ultimately will cost them twice the final price as a dollar-for-dollar overage tax is applied, and they won’t be able to sign any international amateur for more than $300,000 the next two years—the club is going to do everything in its power to get as much out of Moncada as fast as possible.

As far as a best-case scenario in terms of how quickly Moncada might make it to the majors and become a star? Look no further than his fellow countryman Puig, who signed for $42 million (prior to the current rules) in June 2012.

After a strong 23-game cameo in the low minors that year, then an incredible showing in spring training the following March and a couple of big months at Double-A to open the 2013 season, Puig became a phenomenon with the Los Angeles Dodgers by June 2013—just a year later.

Given that Moncada is almost two full years younger than Puig was at the time of each player’s signing, a more realistic timeline for Moncada could be along the lines of Soler‘s. 

At the time he landed his $30 million deal with the Chicago Cubs in June 2012—the same month as Puig—Soler was 20 years and four months old. That’s about half a year older than Moncada is now.

Soler‘s development was slowed along the way, mostly by injuries that limited him to just 75 minor league games in 2013, his first full season, and 62 in 2014. But he did make it to the majors by the end of August last year and looked ready right away, hitting .292/.330/.573 with 14 extra-base hits, including five homers, in 24 games.

Of course, there are factors that could slow Moncada‘s ascent to MLB stardom, too. Some of them are under his control.

As a switch-hitter, for instance, Moncada will have to prove he can perform capably from both sides of the plate and against pitchers of various kinds of velocities, repertoires and arm angles. And as Callis notes, “The caveat is that Moncada hasn’t faced much pro-caliber pitching.”

Keith Law of ESPN goes into detail on Moncada‘s two separate swings:

His left-handed swing is ahead of his right-handed swing for now. He’s very short to the ball with plus bat speed, with excellent body control and strong hands; his right-handed swing is a bit more rigid and he’s not likely to have the same plate coverage, struggling to adjust to off-speed stuff when facing live pitching this winter.

There also is the matter of where Moncada will play in the field. Although he has some experience at shortstop, he played second base primarily in the Serie Nacional but could profile better at third base given his build (6’2″, 205 lbs) and projectable power. He won’t be learning an entirely new position, but there are nuances and specifics that apply to each spot on the diamond that he’ll have to turn into second nature.

There are aspects beyond Moncada‘s grasp, too. Like the fact Boston already has a fully stocked infield, featuring fellow young franchise building block Xander Bogaerts at short, franchise face Dustin Pedroia signed through 2021 at second base and new $95 million man Pablo Sandoval at third.

This means the Red Sox have no reason to rush Moncada to the majors, and it also won’t make it any easier for him to get there without earning it.

Given the circumstances, perhaps the easiest path to playing time comes with the expiration of first baseman Mike Napoli’s contract after the 2015 campaign, which would allow Boston to shift Sandoval to the other corner, thus opening up the hot corner for Moncada.

If that happens, and Moncada performs to expectations in the minors this year—likely starting at a low level (i.e. A-ball), according to Ian Browne of MLB.com, with a chance to reach Double-A—and follows the almost unbelievable Puig path, he could look like MLB’s next Cuban stud by the end of the first half of the 2016 season.

If Moncada‘s timeline is more similar to Soler‘s, though, then look for Moncada to arrive either late in the second half of 2016 or early in the first half of 2017 with the aim of being a starter right away—and a potential star in 2018.

Ultimately, Moncada is a different player from Puig and Soler—or any other fellow Cuban who has gone on to become an MLB star, like Yoenis Cespedes and Jose Abreu—so how fast Moncada makes it to the majors, and whether he becomes a star, is going to depend on him more than anything else.

For his part, Moncada had this to say, via Sanchez, in early February prior to signing: “My goal is to sign with a team soon, start training with them, and make it to the major leagues as fast as I can.”

The clock is ticking.

Statistics are accurate through the 2014 season and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted. 

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11.

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Change was the theme of the offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers, both on and off the field.

It began with an overhaul of the team’s front office, as ownership hired Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi to serve as president of baseball operations and general manager, respectively, and with those two analytic rock stars came a new approach to constructing a winning and cost-effective roster.

That led to some tough goodbyes to fan-favorite players, as Friedman and Zaidi allowed Hanley Ramirez to leave as a free agent and then traded Dee Gordon and Matt Kemp in December during the annual winter meetings.

While the Dodgers subsequently restructured their middle infield through trades for veterans Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick, the team’s decision not to replace Kemp in center field was a direct vote of confidence in prospect Joc Pederson.

Pederson enjoyed one of the better seasons in minor league history in 2014, as the 22-year-old was named MVP of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League after leading the league in home runs (33), OPS (1.017), on-base percentage (.435), runs scored (106), walks (100) and total bases (259). He also became the first Pacific Coast League player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season since 1934. 

Unfortunately, Pederson didn’t fare as well in his first taste of the major leagues, as the September call-up was just 4-for-28 (.143) with 11 strikeouts and nine walks in 38 plate appearances with the Dodgers.

At 6’1″, 185 pounds, Pederson is an impressive athlete with quiet strength, showcasing five average-or-better tools and good secondary skills. He projects to be a slightly above-average hitter at the highest level, with a mature approach and line-drive-oriented swing, and he already demonstrates a feel for working counts and getting on base.

The left-handed hitter has shown at least above-average power at every minor league stop, including a career-high 33 bombs in 2014. His power will play even if the average doesn’t translate, as Pederson is patient enough to wait out specific pitches each trip to the plate.

Pederson’s consistency on the basepaths rivals his power frequency, as he’s now swiped at least 26 bases in each of the last four seasons. Beyond that, his knack for getting on base and using his speed to put pressure on opposing defenses should always make him a consistent source of runs.

Pederson is a natural in the outfield, with plus range, excellent instincts and above-average arm strength, and manager Don Mattingly has previously stated he believes the 22-year-old is the “best defensive center fielder” in the organization, per Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times.

Following the season, the 22-year-old traveled to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball for the Leones del Escogido. He batted .265/.351/.361 with five extra-base hits (one home run), 13 runs scored, 10 walks and 33 strikeouts in 22 games with Escogido.

As expected, the Dodgers coaching staff and front office have been noncommittal about the possibility of Pederson, who has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues, opening the 2015 season in center field. The youngster will “have the opportunity to compete for the position” during spring training, according to Mattingly, while Zaidi has acknowledged that it’s between Pederson and Andre Ethier heading into camp. However, I’m not convinced it will be the battle they’re making it out to be.

Pederson’s potential to contribute in 2015 obviously played a major part in the Dodgers’ decision to deal Kemp, so one would think he’d have to fail pretty miserably in spring training for Ethier to win the Opening Day gig.

On top of that, the center field situation will determine the club’s outfield configuration next season, which makes it hard to believe the Dodgers would enter spring training with that much uncertainty at the position.

The Dodgers front office “would not have shipped Matt Kemp to the division-rival Padres if they didn’t believe Pederson is for real,” writes Lyle Spencer of MLB.com

Whether Pederson makes an impact and lives up to expectations will depend on his ability to make adjustments and overcome the inevitable growing pains that come along with being a rookie in the major leagues. For him, specifically, that will mean keeping his strikeout rate, which reached 27 percent last season between Triple-A and the major leagues, under control.

The Steamer and ZIPS projection models for 2015 call for Pederson to strike out somewhere in the 25 to 30 percent range, but they also like his chances of going 20-20 with a 10-plus percent walk rate in his age-23 campaign.

With Carl Crawford slated for left field and Yasiel Puig opposite him in right, Ethier would likely be the odd man out if Pederson claims center field. Suffice it to say the 32-year-old Ethier, who’s coming off a career-worst season (.249 average, four home runs in 380 plate appearances) and is still owed $56 million, would not be on board with such a role.

However, it still makes sense for the Dodgers to hang onto Ethier in 2015, argues Dilbeck, as the Kemp trade made him even more valuable to the team:

The problem is, should they trade Ethier and Pederson struggles, they could be in trouble. You almost would have to keep Ethier. He absolutely will not like it and be far from happy and cause Manager Don Mattingly a few maddening moments, but Ethier wouldn’t sour the clubhouse. He’s too much a loner. And though he was mostly great about his situation as the odd outfielder out last season, it’s not like he’s never been in a snit before.

The Dodgers potentially have something special in Joc Pederson, but they also have enough outfield depth so that he won’t be forced into an Opening Day role if he’s not ready.

Like any young power hitter, Pederson, who turns 23 in April, can be streaky at the plate, so he’s likely to experience plenty of ups and downs over a full season in the major leagues. At the same time, Pederson’s steady improvement from year to year in the minor leagues speaks to his capacity to make adjustments against advanced competition, and it should give the Dodgers enough confidence to stick with the promising center fielder through it all in 2015.

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It’s been quite an offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are set to kick off spring training when pitchers and catchers report to Camelback Ranch on Feb. 19.

Not only was there a change of leadership at the top with a revamped front office, but the team itself will look noticeably different from the one that saw its season end in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

New president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi wasted little time configuring the roster to align with their belief in cost-effective, analytics-based baseball.

The duo promptly traded away fan favorites Dee Gordon and Matt Kemp during the winter meetings in December after allowing Hanley Ramirez to walk in free agency. Rather than absorb a sunk cost in reliever Brian Wilson, who exercised his pricey player option for 2015, the Dodgers simply cut him outright.

Half of the infield and about 40 percent of the starting rotation will feature new faces, ones the Dodgers entrusted to carry the team back to the postseason for a third consecutive season.

Los Angeles has essentially made a gamble with its flurry of moves this winter: improved defense and more contact at the plate will make up for the loss of power in the lineup. Questions still remain about the bullpen, however, and it’s not a lock that the team can reach the 94-win plateau from last season.

Fans have heard about the metrics all winter. But now it’s finally time to take these names off a sheet of paper and instead put them on an actual field. Here’s the complete spring training preview for the 2015 Dodgers.

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We can talk all we want about the offseason drawing to a close and spring training being just around the bend, but here’s how we really know it’s almost baseball season:

Ladies and gentlemen, our first Yasiel Puig controversy of 2015 has arrived!

Sort of, anyway. It’s a controversy to the extent that it’s going to be viewed that way in some circles. But in this one? Meh, not so much. If anything, this particular Puig controversy is the opposite of a controversy, whatever that is.

At any rate, let’s get to what the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ lightning-rod right fielder had to say. It seems Puig held court with some reporters on Friday and, courtesy of Roberto Baly of VinScullyIsMyHomeboy.com, one of the things he said was this:

Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra introduced this tweet by writing, “This is gonna create some headlines.” 

Well, we know there’s at least one now. And there will probably be more. It is the slow season, after all, and this is one of those Internet-friendly OH SNAP! moments.

The rivalry between the Dodgers and the Giants is no joke. They both entered the National League in 1883, and their rivalry traveled from New York to California in the 1950s and became an intradivisional affair when the NL West formed in 1969. Through it all, the Dodgers-Giants rivalry has produced enough fodder for a Wikipedia page that’s about as long as you’d expect it to be.

And, of course, there’s what the Giants have done lately. While the Dodgers are still working on winning their first World Series since 1988, the Giants’ championship run in 2014 was their third in five years.

In light of all that, shouldn’t Puig‘s eyes be on the Giants instead of the Cardinals? Don’t they matter just a little bit more?

Not necessarily, no.

There’s no question the Giants are on the Dodgers’ minds, as new general manager Farhan Zaidi acknowledged as much at his introductory presser in November. And, for all we know, the Dodgers are just as envious of the Giants as they are aware of them.

Feeling envious, however, is not the same thing as feeling inferior.

Puig‘s comments indicate he doesn’t feel the Dodgers are inferior to the Giants, and there’s another Dodger who recently came right out and said it. Remember when Adrian Gonzalez told this to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register?

You can say he was just trying to rationalize the Dodgers’ season, but he had a point.

The Dodgers did indeed win the division over the Giants in 2014 and also did the same in 2013. A big reason they were able to this past year is because they won eight of the last 11 games the two teams played against one another.

So based on recent history, Puig‘s not quite out of his mind in not perceiving the Giants as a major threat. Over the Dodgers’ last 324 regular-season games, they really haven’t been.

And looking ahead to 2015, the projections see more of the same in store. Courtesy of Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs:

Both projections see the Dodgers winning their third straight NL West title, and handily at that. And knowing what they’re working with, that should be easy enough to believe.

The Dodgers may have lost Hanley Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Dee Gordon, but they still have plenty of quality bats. Throw in a rotation led by Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, a hugely improved defense and a bullpen that should also be improved, and they don’t just deserve to be perceived as the top contender for the NL West. In my eyes, they’re baseball’s top World Series contender.

So while the Dodgers are playing catch-up with the Giants to a certain extent, the Giants are also a hurdle they’ve proved they can clear and should be able to clear once again. Rather than on them, their focus should be on a hurdle they haven’t cleared and still poses a threat.

You know, like the Cardinals.

The last two times the Dodgers have made the playoffs, the Cardinals have come along to knock them out. They did the job in the sixth game of the National League Championship Series in 2013, and in the fourth game of the National League Division Series in 2014.

It would be easy for Puig and the rest of the Dodgers to put those two defeats in the past if they knew they didn’t have to worry about seeing the Cardinals in October again, but they can’t do that. 

The Cardinals are largely still the same team they were the last time the Dodgers saw them, but they now feature one of the game’s great right fielders in Jason Heyward. This is to say, they still have the look of a division winner, and both Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs expect them to be just that in 2015. Odds are the NL Central will be theirs again.

That puts them and the Dodgers on a collision course to meet in October once again. Because of that, they’re more of a threat to stand in the way of the Dodgers’ elusive championship than the Giants are.

Even without context, this alone would be strong enough justification for Puig‘s stance. But when you consider the context, you remember how many layers there are to the Cardinals-Dodgers rivalry.

One of those layers concerns Puig directly. The Cardinals have owned him the last two times they’ve faced him in the postseason, holding him to a .235 average and punching him out in 18 of 37 plate appearances. Thus have they made an otherwise above-average hitter look decidedly pedestrian.

It’s not just his number the Cardinals have had. They’ve also had Kershaw‘s, as they’ve treated him like a regular Barry Zito the last three times they’ve seen him in the postseason. Understandably, he was dazed and confused after his latest defeat. His teammates probably were, too.

Oh, and let’s also not forget the cultural war between these two teams.

In 2013, their postseason battle was a narrative of the respectful old-school types of St. Louis triumphing over a bunch of disrespectful modern loonies from Los Angeles. It was the spirit of Stan Musial stomping all over Mickey Mouse.

In 2014, it was much of the same. Only this time, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports looked at the Dodgers’ absurd payroll and spun a yarn about magic triumphing over money:

The $230 million (or is it $240 million with all the extras counted?) Dodgers slinked back to glitzy L.A. after a 3-2 defeat that completed the Cardinals’ NLDS win, three games to one. This will be four straight NLCS appearances for the Cardinals, who rank in the middle on payroll and haven’t had Albert Pujols for three of those four years now.

The Dodgers-Giants rivalry is one with a long history that now has a championship-envy twist. But it’s the Cardinals who have been the bigger rock in the Dodgers’ shoe over the last two seasons, and the rivalry between them has transcended the action on the field as only good rivalries can do.

So don’t take Puig‘s latest remark to be controversial. The Giants may have the championships the Dodgers crave, but it’s not them the Dodgers have to worry about. The Cardinals pose a bigger threat, and the last two years have made them the Bill to the Dodgers’ Uma Thurman. Revenge is in order.

Of course, Giants fans are welcome to disagree. Either that, or you guys can calm down and count to three. 

I’m not sure what it is, but something about that number should have you feeling better.

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked.  

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

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There’s going to be a lot of pressure on Yasiel Puig when the Los Angeles Dodgers take the field in 2015.

Alright, maybe that sounds like stating the obvious. Between the pressure on him to behave and the pressure on him to perform, there’s always pressure on Puig. But it will be a different, more heightened sort of pressure in 2015, and whether he’ll be able to respond to it is a good question.

You’ve surely noticed how actively the Dodgers have been making changes this winter, and how the process has meant waving goodbye to a pair of dangerous hitters: Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp.

Thanks to how much the club’s run-prevention outlook has improved, its departures aren’t an outright disaster. And yet, there’s no ignoring the step back the Dodgers have taken on offense, as the top half of their lineup now looks considerably less scary.

To borrow from Dayn Perry of CBSSports.com, it now looks like this:

That’s not a bad top five, mind you, but it pales in comparison to what the top five of Don Mattingly’s batting order typically looked like in 2014:

With Kemp and Ramirez gone, the Dodgers are going from a top five that featured four hitters with an OPS+ (a park and league-adjusted OPS where 100 is average) of at least 130 to a projected top five with half as many.

That’s the overall picture. More specifically, there’s how the Dodgers lineup has been stripped of a unique right-handed fear factor. By OPS+, Puig, Kemp and Ramirez gave the Dodgers three of the 18 best right-handed hitters in MLB last year. No other team had more than two.

Because the Dodgers have yet to acquire another elite righty hitter, their hopes of enjoying the luxury of elite right-handed hitting in 2015 rest with Puig. And while that wouldn’t seem like too much to ask in light of how Puig was virtually Miguel Cabrera’s equal in 2014, make no mistake about it: He’ll need to be better.

On the whole, Puig really did have a terrific 2014. He wasn’t as dangerous as he was in his outstanding rookie season, but there’s no reason to be ashamed of a .296/.382/.480 batting line.

However, Puig’s 2014 was a tale of two seasons. He started off incredibly hot and finished…well, not so incredibly hot.

Here’s the breakdown:

Puig wasn’t a “bad” hitter in those last 100 games. According to FanGraphs, he still walked more and struck out less than the average hitter. Also, a .763 OPS is 63 points better than 2014’s average OPS.

Nonetheless, just how much Puig’s production fell off is downright cringeworthy, especially in the power department. He was on pace for easily over 30 home runs early on, but he hit only five the rest of the way while his slugging percentage dropped over 200 points.

Rather than Cabrera’s equal, the down-the-stretch Puig was more like Casey McGehee’s equal. If that’s the Puig who shows up in 2015, there’s no way he’s going to mitigate the loss of Kemp and Ramirez.

But this is not to say Puig can’t recover from his dismal showing down the stretch in 2014. He’ll be able to if he fixes what was ailing him.

If you’re thinking this means Puig needs to turn his emotional dial to somewhere below 11, his manager would probably agree. Here’s what Mattingly told Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles in late August:

The season is long, and it wears you down. It’s part of learning to regulate yourself here, as far as rest or anything else. We’ve seen Dee Gordon and how much more consistent his approach is day in and day out now, staying at a certain level. I think Yasiel’s really emotional, and it’s hard to be really emotional and play 162.

Because Puig did seem to let his frustration get the better of him at times down the stretch, Mattingly might have a point. Maybe Puig really can help himself by becoming more robotic.

Either that, or he can focus on making a more tangible adjustment. Rather than worrying about policing his emotions, he should be worried about once again rewriting the scouting report on him.

One reason Puig started off so hot in 2014 was because he was crushing hard stuff. According to Brooks Baseball, he hit the first 539 fastballs he saw at a .352 clip with a .611 slugging percentage.

Not surprisingly, pitchers responded by adjusting.

Puig’s overall percentage of hard stuff went from 68.1 in his first 48 games to 64.5 in his last 100 games. Pitchers also went from pounding him almost exclusively inside to pounding him both inside and outside.

In other words, they became far less predictable when Puig was at bat. And for Puig, there were a couple production-killing effects.

That Puig saw more slow pitches and a less predictable fastball pattern explains why his strikeout rate went up. It also helps explain why, according to FanGraphs, his ground-ball percentage went from 48.6 to 53.5. That, in particular, is a good way to kill power.

But something else killed Puig’s power, too: All of a sudden, he basically stopped driving the ball at will.

Here, check out his early-season spray chart:

And now compare it to what came after:

Early on, Puig was spraying the ball with authority all over the field. But as the season wore on, his batted balls consisted mainly of grounders to third and short, and liners and flies to right field.

Even with Puig’s considerable power to right field, it’s hard to be a consistent power producer when you’re only hitting the ball that way. His numbers in his final 100 games can vouch, and you can rest assured that pitchers know this. They won’t quit using their new approach until Puig makes them.

To this end, time will tell. But if it’s optimism you want, you’re not going to leave empty-handed.

Because Puig gives off vibes of being a big, dumb brute, counting on him making necessary adjustments may sound like a bad idea. But it’s anything but, as making adjustments has quietly been a talent of his.

For instance, you can look at how Puig went from being a wild hitter in 2013 to an advanced hitter in 2014. Per FanGraphs, his chase rate went from 38.9 to 30.2, and his contact rate went from 67.6 to 74.7. Huge improvements, those are.

There’s also why pitchers suddenly refused to feed Puig a steady diet of inside fastballs in 2014. That was a case of him changing the book on how it was safe to pitch him. According to BaseballSavant.com, he went from slugging .411 against inside heat in 2013 to slugging .725 against it early on in 2014.

At FanGraphs, Jeff Sullivan noted that this is an improvement Puig was hoping to make and how, even though the actual improvement had consequences, it’s encouraging that he pulled it off:

In working to get better against inside fastballs, Puig subsequently opened himself up a little more against fastballs away…But between years, he set his mind to getting better against something, and it appears he mostly pulled it off. That’s not something we often observe, which is what makes this so interesting.

Elsewhere, you can even look to how Puig didn’t exactly have the worst idea in becoming more of an opposite-field hitter down the stretch in 2014. He got carried away with it, but looking to go the other way more often in the face of more slow stuff and fastballs away is the way to go.

So, we’ve seen Puig become a more advanced hitter. We’ve seen him turn a safe haven for pitchers into a death zone. We’ve seen him put up a solid fight in the face of a tougher pitching strategy. Knowing this, it’s not nuts to think that his next adjustment will be to not let pitchers dictate how he hits the ball.

If so, his power should come back. And if his power comes back, he’ll look more like the world-destroying hitter he was early on in 2014, which is just the hitter the Dodgers need to offset the departures of Kemp and Ramirez.

Given everything involved in it, the challenge that lies before Puig is the greatest he’s faced as a big leaguer. It will be some time before we know if he’s able to handle it.

But for now, we can say this: I wouldn’t put it past him.

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked.  

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