How Yasiel Puig In 2013 Reminds Me Of Miguel Cabrera In 2003

Yasiel Puig has provided an instant boost to the morale of the Dodgers since he set foot inside the Dodger clubhouse. They were struggling at the beginning of June at 24-32 with the season slowly but surely going down the tubes- enter Yasiel Puig and fast forward about a month and a half later and the Dodgers now sit atop the NL West division at 53-47 a lot of the Dodgers turnaround could be attributed to the energy that Puig has brought to the line up. It has made players around him start playing better and the Dodgers look like the team people expected before the season started. Now I have seen this same type of energy and impact before and it happened to come in the form of Miguel Cabrera 10 years ago back in 2003 for the world champion Florida Marlins.

Although Puig now and Cabrera then are 2 different kind of players the energy and impact both of them brought to their respective ball clubs is vastly similar. Puig on June 3^rd made his major league debut vs the San Diego Padres for a struggling Dodgers team at 24-32 lingering towards the bottom of the NL West. Puig went 2-4 and had an outfield assists to end the game on a double play resulting in a Dodgers win. Miguel Cabrera on June 20^th 2003 got his 1^st start in the big leagues although the production of that game isn't as great as Puig's what he did produce matches Yasiel. Cabrera went 1-5 in that game but that 1 hit which was his 1^st in what is now a great major league career was a walk off home run in the 11^th inning off of Al Levine which gave the Marlins a 3-1 win over the Devil Rays. From that point forward the Marlins looked like an entirely different ball club. They played a lot looser and with a lot more energy and after May 23^rd 2003 the Marlins compiled a 72-42 record which was best in baseball and led them to a 91-71 finish and a wild card berth which ultimately led them to a World Series championship over the New York Yankees. Cabrera had a lot to do with the Marlins great production after May 23^rd. Puig Like Cabrera in 03 has been a huge reason that the Dodgers since his arrival on June 3^rd are 30-15 up to this point.

Puig and Cabrera like I said earlier are much different players and Puig right now at 22 is 2 years older than Cabrera in 2003 he was 20. The energy they both brought to the teams they played for are very alike in my eyes. The only question now is if the Dodgers make the playoffs will the Impact that Puig has had here in 2013 wind up in resulting in the same way as Cabrera in 2003 when the Marlins won the world series?? I guess only time will tell.