Being Intrigued By Puig.

When a young athlete is signed to a major league contract, fans and writers alike rush to make comparisons between this phenom and a superstar from the past. Very few have been compared to Bo Jackson, a multi-sport player who is considered by many to be one of the best overall athletes of all time. His talents transcended expectations in both baseball and football, and it's been collectively decided that there will never be anyone quite like Bo.

So, when a 22 year old kid from Cienfuegos named Yasiel Puig rightfully earns the nickname "The Cuban Bo Jackson", you tend to take notice. And he's certainly making it hard to ignore him.

We should probably start getting used to this sight, we'll be seeing it a lot.

Puig, signed out of his South American home before the 2012 season with a 7 year, $42 million contract, tore through Spring Training this year, hitting .517 with 3 homers and an absolutely insane .842 slugging percentage (albeit in only 57 at-bats). Any baseball fan worth their salt will tell you that numbers in the preseason really mean nothing, as most pitchers and batters are minor leaguers that the big club wants to get some initial major league experience or aged vets on minor league deals trying to hang on at the highest level. Still, these numbers for a young masher should not be ignored. Puig made Double-A pitchers look similarly foolish through the first third of this season: before being called up, he was hitting .313 with 8 home runs and 37 RBI. Again, this should be taken with great skepticism, as Double-A, while moderately competitive, is not renowned for its high level of pitching competency. So nobody really knew what to expect when Puig made his grand entrance in Los Angeles when the struggling Matt Kemp went on the DL. He'd seen some professional hurlers, but nothing like what he'd face in the majors. We knew he'd make an impact on the club. We just didn't think it would be this soon.

Boy, were we wrong or what?

His grand slam left legendary broadcaster Vin Scully speechless. His first four career home runs have all come on completely different pitches. His 10 RBI have him tied with two unimportant players for most RBI in the first 5 games of a career. It's not that these things don't happen very often. They generally don't happen at all. And it's not just his presence at the plate that makes him so damn easy to root for: he is the definition of the classic 5-tool archetype. He hits (.464 average, or 13-for-28), hits for power (his 4 homers, one being a grand slam, are the most for any player in their first week, EVER), runs (his 13 stolen bases in his minor league stint is more than the Dodgers' current leader, Carl Crawford, with 9), and makes amazing catches, like the one on the warning track in his debut to end the game. For a frame of reference, his current and future teammate Hanley Ramirez has played in 9 major league games this season to Yasiel's 7, and Puig beats out HanRam in everything. I mean, everything. This is the same Ramirez that was pegged to be a consistently powerful shortstop with the capacity to field a la Ozzie Smith. And he looks like Rey Ordonez compared to what Paparazzi is doing (side note: I prefer my nickname for Puig, the Cienfuegos Crusher, but as usual, MLB isn't paying any attention to this blog...yet) further out in the diamond.

Oh, right: he can throw like a freaking catapult too. Count 'em, folks. Five tools.

How long will Puigmania last? Obviously, the regression will be coming soon, whether Puig returns to the minors in a few weeks when Kemp and Crawford are healthy or he manages to stick on the roster for the rest of the season and beyond. He currently sports a .450 BABIP, meaning his fall will be pretty mighty, but considering that he had a .339 BABIP in 167 plate appearances at Double-A Chattanooga this season before heading to Hollywood, meaning that even through a good portion of the season, he's still batting at a consistently amazing rate. His Isolated Power is .500. That sentence alone should boggle your mind. Small sample sizes be damned, Puig is a rare talent, in the same vein as fellow nubile studs Mike Trout (who's having to be content with being the second-most popular natural centerfielder in Los Angeles now) and Bryce Harper (whose Cinderella season and a half before his 21st now pales in comparison to his Cuban counterpart). Are we watching Puig's Hall of Fame-caliber career start at the same time as these two potential Cooperstown hopefuls? All signs are pointing to yes, but we shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves. Yasiel will certainly be sent back down to the minors once his teammates are healthy enough to take the field, as he hasn't even gotten a full professional season under his belt at any level.

Then again...maybe he shouldn't be. After all, he's only 22, and the Dodgers have him under contract for 5 more years. Considering their playoff expectations have been all but decimated, why not let the kid stay in the City of Angels for the duration of the 2013 season? Certainly couldn't hurt to get him some more time in the majors. Might make his eventual Triple-A stay that much more exciting and dominant. Of course, this is pure speculation, and he will almost definitely be optioned once the outfield logjam makes itself prevalent once more. But make no mistake, Yasiel's stock is on the rise. There's hope for the Dodgers yet.

Edit: I just have to put this out there. I play in a keeper-dynasty, head-to-head fantasy league with a couple of my good friends. We had a minor league draft after our regular draft, and Puig went untouched. On a whim, I decided to take a chance on him back in March, well before his amazing display in Spring Training. I now have Puig as a last-round keeper for as long as I want. My friend brags about having Mike Trout in a similar situation, but I believe I'll have the last laugh here.