CHICAGO -- Yasiel Puig was not in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup Thursday for the third consecutive game, but that does not necessarily mean he is close to a stint on the 15-day disabled list.
What it does mean, though, is that Scott Van Slyke stands a good chance of coming off his own DL stint very soon.
Because Puig continues to deal with a nagging hamstring injury, the Dodgers would like to get Van Slyke back in the fold quickly. He has been out since the first week of the season with a back issue.
“I know Van Slyke, in the last few days, has swung the bat well on his rehab assignment,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “One component is being healthy, which is the main [goal], but also performing and swinging the bat well. So his at-bats have gotten better over the last two, three days. That is a conversation that we will have after this game.”
Earlier in the week, Roberts said Van Slyke’s return could come later in the upcoming homestand. Now it might come as early as Friday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium.
Puig did pinch hit in Wednesday night’s game and is available for pinch-hit duty again Thursday. But because of Puig's hamstring issue, Carl Crawford has started in the outfield in all four games of the current series at Wrigley Field.
Roberts admits that he is playing things extremely cautiously when it comes to Puig.
“You know what, with Yasiel and the hamstring issues that he's had in the past, where he's at and where we're at in the season, it just doesn't make sense to push him,” Roberts said. “I know that he would be open to trying to give it a go, but I think, for me, sometimes you've got to take it out of the player's hands and [do] what's best for him and the organization.”
With the number of injured players Roberts has dealt with so far this season, he is essentially forced to take the cautious approach.
Alex Wood’s trip to the disabled list this week was just another in a long line of injury issues, and a subject Roberts felt compelled to address with the players.
“Every team deals with it in some capacity,” Roberts said. “This was one of the things that I made clear in a message to the players, that things are going to happen and we just can’t let it distract us from winning games. Nobody is going to make excuses, and we have to move forward. And it’s not to be insensitive to any player we lose by way of injury, but we have to win baseball games.”
