Puig (4 for 4) continues to raise expectations

Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig singles for one of his four hits Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, AP

AT A GLANCE

THE GAME: Led by Yasiel Puig and Jerry Hairston Jr., the Dodgers pounded out 13 hits in a 7-1 victory over the Oakland A’s on Tuesday.

PITCHING REPORT: Left-hander Chris Capuano started in place of Chad Billingsley (bruised right index finger) and pitched into the sixth inning, allowing just one run on four hits. Capuano faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings.

HITTING REPORT: Puig continues to be the star of the spring for the Dodgers. He was 4 for 4 with a home run, a triple and two singles – and was thrown out trying to stretch the second single into a double. He is batting .500 (23 for 46). Hairston was 2 for 3 and hit a solo homer.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Yasiel Puig has put the Dodgers in an unusual situation.

For decades, teams have tried to build up buzz around their top minor-leaguers, increasing the market value (to fans and other teams alike) of those prospects, if nothing else. But Puig has put them in the position of trying to play down his promise.

"At this point, he's creating expectations he can't live up to – nobody could, to be honest with you," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said after Puig went 4 for 4 with a near-cycle against the Oakland A's on Tuesday afternoon, raising his Cactus League average to .500 (23 for 46). "And I think I need to temper that, make sure we take a realistic look."

That's a little tough to do when the manager – just three days earlier – has already compared Puig's raw talent to Bo Jackson and the general manager referenced the birth of the Bash Brothers when asked for a comparison.

"I'm going to keep it in the same context – this being spring training," Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said. "He reminds me of when (Mark) McGwire and (Jose) Canseco came up with Oakland in the late '80s.

"I was with the Cubs. We'd heard all about them. Went to (Phoenix) Municipal Stadium for a spring game and it was like, 'Whoa.'"

Colletti paused.

"But again - it was spring," he said.

Puig has been putting on his own show this spring. Had he hustled out of the batter's box on his second single Tuesday, he could have hit for the cycle. On his first-inning home run, he was down in the count 0-and-2, fouled off a few pitches, worked the count full and drilled A's right-hander Dan Straily's next offering over the wall in left-center.

"It's rare in spring training game that everyone will stop to see when somebody hits," Colletti said. "I think that's what he does. Whether it's fans becoming aware of him, scouts, front-office people – that's what's happening. When he comes up, people stop what they're doing and watch."

Spring phenoms who disappear when the bright lights of the regular season come on are as old in baseball as some of the hot dogs sold in those big stadiums. But Mattingly and Colletti both stepped lightly when asked if Puig could change their minds about opening the season in the big leagues. Last week, Mattingly called that "not realistic" and "probably not best for" Puig, considering his lack of professional experience.

"He's got a chance to be really, really good," Mattingly said. "We'll talk about it as a staff, as an organization and try to do what's best for him, what's best for us."

Colletti offered an equally open-ended, "We'll see. We still have 12 days (before opening day). He's still here. He's still competing. He still has a chance."

But Colletti also said barring a setback he expects outfielder Carl Crawford to be ready to play left field on opening day against the Giants, closing Puig's most tempting door to an early big-league arrival.

Crawford took part in defensive drills Tuesday in which he made throws to the cutoff man. Mattingly said "the shortstop is going to have to go out a little further than they would a month from now" to compensate for Crawford's lack of full arm strength. But Crawford could start playing the field in Cactus League games as soon as this weekend.

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