The rookie wall is real in Major League Baseball. Baseball’s young stars can rake, but they have to learn where that wall is. Back in May, Bryce Harper was on the receiving end of an unsuspecting shot from the wall that would have made Jadeveon Clowney cringe. Not long after Harper’s collision he was sent to the DL and missed the entire month of June.
Friday night was the best and worst of both worlds for Yasiel Puig. He also found the wall. After putting his blazing speed on display by scoring from second base on a groundout, MVPuig lost track of where he was on the warning track and crashed into the fence leaping for a successfully-made web gem catch in the fifth inning. The collision injured his hip and leg. Puig made the throw back into the infield, but collapsed in pain almost immediately. Puig remained in for one more at-bat in the sixth inning, before getting pulled after flying out.
Puig wasn’t seriously injured, but the Dodgers outfielder is now day-to-day due to a bruised hip and is experiencing tightness in his thigh.
Puig became the first rookie to win National League Player of the Month in his first month as a major leaguer courtesy of his prowess with a stick, but like most young major leaguers, he needs to develop a feel for the outfield like the back of his hand to truly develop into the five-tool player he projects to be. Unfortunately, if he's forced to miss significant time, this could give the NL’s manager a reason not to put Puig on the All-Star roster.
