Dodgers Dugout: The Dodgers may have found the hitter fans were looking for. Yasiel Puig

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and the Dodgers are on pace to win 107 games, the most since the franchise began in 1884. In fact, they have won over 100 games only six times since 1884.

Welcome back Yasiel

I get several emails a week from Dodgers fans who believe the team needs one more power hitter in the lineup, preferably an outfielder, to make the Dodgers have true World Series winning potential. After studying all the candidates, it appears the solution may be right in front of us: Yasiel Puig.

Puig came up before the All-Star break in 2013 and looked like a once-in-a-lifetime player. In 432 plate appearances, he hit 21 doubles, 19 homers, drove in 42 runs and stole 11 bases. His slash numbers were a gaudy .319/.391/.534 and his OPS+ was 159, which means he was 59% better than an average hitter that season. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and 15th in MVP voting.

In 2014 he fell off a little, but still was a good player, hitting .296/.382/.480 with 37 doubles and 16 homers. But rumors of attitude problems began surfacing. In 2015 his numbers declined more (.255/.322/.436) and in 2016 he was sent to the minors and finished the season with an OPS+ of 98, which meant he was a below average hitter. Teammates didn’t like the fact that he didn’t always show up ready to play and seemed to daydream on the field, making baserunning mistakes and getting booed by fans occasionally.

Before this season, he was barely mentioned as a factor on the team, and many expected him to be part of a platoon with Andre Ethier. Ethier injured his back in spring training and Puig became the everyday player in right.

After the Dodgers lost to Chicago, 5-0, on May 27, Puig was hitting .220/.293/.387 and it seemed like his Dodgers career would end with a whimper.

But then something funny happened. No one was talking about Puig, as everyone was focused on Cody Bellinger. Puig became firmly entrenched in the eighth spot of the batting order, taking almost all the pressure off him. Puig started hitting better. And an amazing thing happened on June 13: Puig flipped off some fans in Cleveland who had been verbally abusing him all game. Instead of “Oh, great, there he is being immature again,” his teammates rallied around him. They watched it on social media after the game and laughed. Puig was contrite and apologized for stooping to the level of the fans.

Since that game, the Dodgers are 10-1.

By the way, since May 27, Puig is hitting .304/.400/.608. The Dodgers are 21-6 since May 27. Cody Bellinger is getting most of the credit, and rightfully so. But Puig has been quietly rolling along. Maybe it’s a fluke, but here’s hoping that it’s not.

Maybe the quiet is what he needed so he could start making some noise again.

Don’t forget Joc

And if you don’t believe Puig’s resurgence will last, take a look at Joc Pederson. Since coming off the disabled list on June 13, he is hitting .341/.491/.756.in 53 plate appearances.

Urias injured

On Friday the Dodgers announced that Julio Urias will undergo season-ending surgery on his pitching shoulder, which will have a recovery time of 10-12 months.

And with that, hopefully the Dodgers will re-examine the ridiculous “conserve innings” philosophy they have with their young pitchers. Remember Jose De Leon, who was traded during the off-season? He is also on the DL with an arm injury. “Conserving innings” really worked wonders for him too.

The problem is there is absolutely no proof that conserving innings works. There is no evidence that 100 pitches is the magic number where a pitcher’s arm might start falling off. No evidence at all. It’s just an arbitrary decision some in baseball (the Dodgers aren’t the only team to believe this) have made for some reason. Probably because 100 is a nice round number and “conserving innings” is nebulous enough that you hope it sounds smart to the average baseball fan.

Some pitchers are going to get injured. Some pitchers aren’t. That’s just the way it works. But the way things are trending, I expect a team to announce that they are doing away with the concept of starting pitchers and are going to use nine pitchers for each game, one per inning.

The obscure Dodgers record of the week

Which Dodger has hit the most triples with the team? Hall of Famer Zack Wheat, with 171, followed by Willie Davis (110) and Hi Myers (97). Rounding out the top 10:

4. Jake Daubert, 87

5. Duke Snider, 82

5. John Hummel, 82

7. Pee Wee Reese, 80

8. Jimmy Johnston, 73

9. Jim Gilliam, 71

10. Babe Herman, 66

And the fewest triples (minimum 2,000 plate appearances):

1. Adrian Gonzalez, 1

2. Mike Piazza, 3

3. Paul Lo Duca, 4

3. Joe Ferguson, 4

5. Jeff Kent, 5

6. Gary Sheffield, 6

6. Mike Marshall, 6

8. Russell Martin, 7

9. Eric Karros, 10

10. Reggie Smith, 11

All these numbers, and more, can be found at baseball-reference.com.

Next series

Monday, 7 p.m. PDT, Angels (Ricky Nolasco, 2-9, 5.23) at Dodgers (Rich Hill, 4-3, 4.73)

Tuesday, 7 p.m. PDT, Angels (Jesse Chavez, 5-7, 5.15) at Dodgers (Kenta Maeda, 5-3, 4.62)

Wednesday, 7 p.m. PDT, Dodgers (Hyun-jin Ryu, 3-6, 4.30 ) at Angels (Alex Meyer, 3-4, 4.20)

Thursday, 7 p.m. PDT, Dodgers (Alex Wood, 8-0, 1.86) at Angels (J.C. Ramirez, 7-5, 4.38)

Note: Pitchers are subject to change.

And finally

Andre Ethier is not expected back until September. Read all about it here. And a rare condition sends Franklin Gutierrez to the disabled list. Read about it here.

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter:@latimeshouston

Houston.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimeshouston