Yasiel Puig Absolutely Trucked Joc Pederson In The Outfield, Still Made The Catch
In last night’s game against the Cardinals, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called upon his closer Kenley Jansen in the tenth inning after Clayton Kershaw threw nine innings, giving up just one earned run, three hits and no walks, while striking out ten batters. It might be a little strong to call a game in late May a “must win”, but that’s a game that you can’t lose after Kershaw gives you a performance like that. It would seem as though Dodgers outfielders Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson felt the same way, because they both went all out to make this catch to end the inning.
Pederson got absolutely trucked and took Puig’s elbow to the side of the head. According to Roberts, he didn’t have a concussion as a result of the collision, which seems like a miracle. The centerfielder has priority over the right fielder, but if you slow the tape down, I don’t think Pederson would’ve caught that ball had Puig not been in the way anyway. It’s tough, though. That ball was right in the middle of the gap, both players felt like they had a beat on it, and like I said, those players are going balls to the wall to win that one for Kershaw after the game he had. Gotta respect the hustle, even though the communication wasn’t there.
It doesn’t sound like Pederson will need a stint on the DL as a result of the collision, but Puig’s acting job needs some work. That looked like when a toddler bumps their head, but they don’t start crying until they see the freaked out look on an adult’s face. The most important thing here is that the Dodgers went on to win this game, improving to 8-2 in games started by Kershaw this year.