Dodgers vs. Giants position-by-position comparison: Right Field

The baseball season’s coming up and Mike Krukow thinks Yasiel Puig is dumb for not pegging the Giants as their biggest rival. In San Luis Obispo, I’d say they are, though the two teams have not met in the playoffs since the Wild Card round started.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been going position by position and comparing what personnel the two teams have in preparation for the 2015 season. Let’s finish up the defense with right field.

The “question” about right field in the Dodgers-Giants position-by-position comparison was already pretty simple. Then Hunter Pence got himself injured and now the issue is even more of a slam dunk in the Dodgers’ favor. Here’s how things break-down for both teams.

Gregor Blanco/Hunter Pence

Blanco, a utility outfielder who does everything decently except hit for power. In his age-30 season in 2014, Blanco played 146 games and managed 29 extra-base hits. His OPB/SLG/OPS line was .333/.374/.707 as Blanco won his second World Series title in San Francisco.

The outlook for Blanco is probably not as valuable in right field as it might be in center, where his defense can be utilized. He will definitely be spelling Angel Pagan there, but with Pence on the shelf for the near future, Blanco is the guy for now.

In Pence, who was hit by a pitch and broke his arm early in spring training, the Giants lose probably their biggest returning offensive threat not named Buster. Pence hasn’t missed a game in either of the past two seasons and batted .277 with 20 home runs and 74 RBIs in 2014. He will be back, but who knows how the broken arm will especially affect his power.

The Giants needed Pence at full-speed to be close to potent offensively this year. They’ll get by with pitching and defense for a while, but the Pence’s pop in the middle of the lineup will be missed early-on.

Can Yasiel Puig have an even better season in 2015? By Owen Main

Yasiel Puig

Much has been said about Yasiel Puig over the past few seasons. He had a ridiculous run in just over 100 games in 2013 and followed it up last season with a stellar year. His energy is something this team has fed off of and, as other players (Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, etc…) have departed, this team looks more and more like Puig’s to take — if he’s ready for that leadership role.

Whether he’s ready to be that clubhouse leader, he’s been leading the team on the field for two seasons (during which time he’s put up about 10 wins above replacement) and figures to be the Dodgers’ best field player again this year.

When Puig gets a rest or is put in center field (neither will happen very often) the Dodgers have options still. Andre Ethier can play right field. So could Scott Van Slyke in a pinch. If he wasn’t manning center field, Joc Pederson could also be a guy in right, though Puig figures to play 150-plus games there if everything goes right this year.

While this team is much more diverse than years past, Puig is the centerpiece of the push this year. Dodger fans would like to think they can sustain any kind of injury or poor play from any of their roster, but Puig, along with Clayton Kershaw, is a player the Dodgers cannot afford to have perform at anything other than top gear.

This is my opportunity to once again say how dumb Puig’s benching was in last year’s playoffs. He was their best player, even if he was striking out a ton. Dumb Dumb Dumb. Now that I have that off my chest, let’s move on.

While Puig would have already been ahead of Pence, the Dodgers’ right-fielder is light-years ahead of a Pence/Blanco combination. Puig’s ceiling could see him in the thick of the MVP race. I can’t say that about many players.

Advantage: Dodgers. Resoundingly.