Bruce Bochy On Yasiel Puig, The All-Star: “That’s Really A Long Shot”

Despite only having 65 plate appearances in his Major League career, Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has mesmerized countless baseball fans. He made an impact from the get-go, which went a long way for a struggling LA team, and their disappointed fan base. His raw power, athleticism and cannon of an arm took the league by storm as soon as he made his debut.

In his short, yet impressive time this season, Puig is hitting .452/.477/.790 with 6 home runs and 12 runs batted in. And for those of you who enjoy sabermetrics, he currently has a massive .539 wOBA and 260 wRC+, the latter of which means he is creating 160% more runs than the average player.

No matter how you slice it, Puig has done an amazing job thus far in his career, and there may be some who think he has earned himself an All-Star appearance, despite only being around for a short time.

However, NL manager Bruce Bochy is not one of those people. When asked about Puig being an All-Star while on a SiriusXM radio show with Casey Stern and Jim Bowden, the Giant’s skipper said:

"“I’ve got to be honest here, that would be really hard for me to consider that… I would have a hard time picking somebody who has been here three weeks, to be honest. The numbers would have to be so stupid that you say, ‘Ok I’ll consider it.’…So that’s why I’m saying, that’s a really long shot.”"

Clearly Bochy does not feel that “Man-Bear-Puig’s” performance has been enough to overshadow the fact that he has only played in 16 games to this point, and will only have roughly 15-20 more games under his belt by the time The Game rolls around.

I can definitely say I agree with Bochy’s sentiment here. Puig certainly has been awesome, but there are other players who have been producing for the whole year, rather than just a few weeks. If Puig had come up a month earlier, and were hitting at a rate anything close to his current one, then it would be a no brainer. But it is just too soon.

So while I concur with Bochy, I can understand the disagreement based around the idea that the All-Star Game is for the fans. We want the most exciting players, and Puig certainly has been that.

On top of that, there is the fact that Bochy himself said “The numbers would have to be so stupid” before he would consider it. Well call me crazy, but a 1.267 OPS is pretty “stupid” in my opinion. Maybe not enough to overshadow the lack of sample-size, but I just thought that statement was a little contradictory.

It sounds like Puig won’t be an All-Star this year. He isn’t on the ballot, and he likely won’t be chosen by Bochy. Some may not like that, but I wouldn’t worry too much. If he keeps playing like he is, I am sure he will get another chance or two in his career.