The 2017 season marked a resurgent year for Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig at the plate, where he posted career highs in many statistical categories.
In 570 plate appearances across 152 games, Puig batted .263/.346/.487 with 24 doubles and a personal-best 28 home runs and 74 RBI. He drastically cut down his strikeout percentage from the year before and sported the best walk rate (11.2 percent) of his career.
Dodgers hitting coach Turner Ward believes Puig became more comfortable at the plate last season and made proper adjustments against certain pitchers, which led to his newfound success, via Cary Osborne of Dodger Insider:
“I believe he got more comfortable with his swing,” Ward said. “I really saw him grow from a mental standpoint. There were a couple of times where he told me, ‘You’re not a hitting coach, you’re a psychologist.’ I told him that’s one of the best compliments you could give me because one area (he) needed to work on was kind of his plan going up to the plate. How he’s going to attack a pitcher. How aggressive or how patient he was going to be against a pitcher. So it came down to the mental part. The physical-ness and mechanical part of his swing, he just got better. Understanding his moves, which gives him a little more time to recognize pitchers.
“He was looking more for the pitches he can handle and the zone he could handle. That was a huge factor to his success.”
Puig and Ward developed a strong relationship last season, and that was evident when Puig would jokingly kiss Ward in the dugout after a home run or big hit. Puig explained later in the year his reasoning for kissing Ward was that he wanted to express his gratitude after succeeding from Ward’s help and preparation.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pointed to their close bond as key to Puig bouncing back from a 2016 campaign that saw him get demoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City after the club failed to trade him.
Now Puig heads into the 2018 season as the unquestioned starting right fielder and someone who will be expected to again deliver.
