It is rare that a single player can capture the attention of America the way that Yasiel Puig has through the first month of his MLB career. The unbelievably excellent play of Puig has brought about a heated debate as to whether or not Puig should make the all-star game roster after playing only a month of baseball. This debate got even more heated after the comments of Jonathan Papelbon when he said that the idea of Puig making the all-star game is "an absolute joke", "kind of stupid", and "an injustice to veteran players". I'm here to tell you today that Puig definitely deserves to be an all-star.
First of all, let's remember what the all-star game is all about, and that is the fans. The all-star game has long been a game for the fans and a time for fans to come together and enjoy a baseball game featuring 60 of the best players in the country. Keeping that in mind, can you come up with 30 national league players who are more exciting to watch or more captivating than Yasiel Puig? Puig has the country talking and is actually causing ESPN to open SportsCenter with baseball rather than the Dallas Cowboys. Yasiel Puig is an all-star.
Secondly, you simply cannot deny the statistics that Puig has put up in his first month of baseball. The .440 average. The .466 on-base percentage. The 8 home runs and 17 RBI. Anyway you spin it, Puig is putting up all-star caliber numbers through his first month. In fact, Yasiel Puig is the only player with at least 40 hits and four home runs in his first month in the majors since Joe DiMaggio in 1936. If you are into WAR, you can look at that statistic and see the impact that Puig has had on the Dodgers as he is leading all Dodgers position players in WAR after only playing one month! Yasiel Puig is an all-star.
If you are still doubting the impact that Puig has had, look no further than the Dodgers position in the NL West with and without "Brute 66". After the completion of their June 2 loss to the San Diego Padres the Dodgers found themselves with a 23-32 record, in last place in the NL West, and 8.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the division lead. Things were looking bleak for the Dodgers. Everyone was calling for Don Mattingly's head, and criticizing the likes of Magic Johnson for some awful baseball decisions. It was after that game that Yasiel Puig was called up to the big leagues and he made his debut the following night against the same San Diego Padres game. The Dodgers won that game and have gone 17-11 since Puig was called up. The Dodgers have won 10 out of their last 11 games and are now only 2.5 games back of the Diamondbacks for the division lead. As I noted in my June 3rd column, Yasiel Puig was a sign of hope for the Dodgers. He gave fans something to get excited about players someone to rally around. There is no doubting that Puig has been leading the charge for the escalation of the Dodgers in the NL West. Yasiel Puig is an all-star.
Lastly, let's not forget that the all-star game decides home field advantage for the World Series. With that in mind, it is very important that both teams feature the best players in their respective leagues to have as good a chance as possible of winning the all-star game and securing home field advantage in the World Series. Puig is a spark plug and with his 5 tools Yasiel would help the National League greatly in the all-star game. The most talented players should be in the all-star game and Puig is one of the most talented players. Yasiel Puig is an all-star.
While I don't believe that it should become a regular thing for rookies with such little playing time to make the all-star game, I also don't believe that someone with the impact of Yasiel Puig will come around for quite a long time. When you're dealing with history and chasing the likes of Joe DiMaggio for historical rookie seasons, you deserve to be an all-star. I can tell you this for sure, if Yasiel Puig makes the all-star game, expect television ratings to be sky high.
YASIEL PUIG IS AN ALL-STAR.
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