GLENDALE, Ariz. — Cuban sensation Yasiel Puig left Friday’s game in the top of the fifth inning when he got the wind knocked out of him diving for a Brandon Phillips wind-blown fly ball and is believed to be OK.
In an apparent miscommunication with left fielder Jerry Hairston, Puig raced over from his spot in center and made a desperate diving attempt. The ball dropped safely and Puig remained on the ground face first.
With trainer Sue Falsone and manager Don Mattingly coming to his aid, Puig arose and left the game under his own power, holding his lower left side below the ribcage.
A half inning earlier, Puig electrified the large crowd with a line hit down the left-field line, racing to second for a double and continuing to third when left fielder Ryan Ludwick bobbled the ball.
Crawford to debut in left on Saturday
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Carl Crawford will play his first game in the field for the Dodgers Saturday night, manager Don Mattingly said Friday.
Crawford has been rehabbing his left (throwing) arm since undergoing Tommy John surgery last August. He had one setback earlier this spring and was shut down for a week, but responded to medication and has made steady progress since, while under closer observation by the club’s medical team.
Crawford took part in relay and cutoff drills earlier this week for the first time and experienced no ill effects.
He was in the lineup Friday as a designated hitter.
The Dodgers now expect Crawford to be ready to play left field for Opening Day. So far this Spring, he has batted leadoff exclusively.
Feeling good, Greinke likely to pitch Monday
GLENDALE — Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke said he felt fine after throwing an impressive bullpen session Friday and will likely pitch on Monday.
Greinke, who pitched four innings of a Minor League game on Tuesday, hasn’t pitched in a Cactus League game since March 1 because of elbow tenderness and the flu. But with two more scheduled spring starts, he could be in line to make his first start as a Dodger April 5 against the Pirates.
Greinke appeared to be throwing hard and without pain in the bullpen session. He has thrown only five innings over two starts this spring and is on a crash course to rack up enough foundational innings to build the arm strength needed to start the season on the active roster.
In other starting pitcher news, manager Don Mattingly said Chad Billingsley will further test his bruised right index finger starting a Minor League game Saturday, with Hyun-Jin Ryu drawing the start in the night Cactus League game.
Park arrives to Dodgers camp to help Ryu
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Chan Ho Park, who blazed the trail from Korea to the Major Leagues, has been brought into camp to watch, and work out with, fellow Korean Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Park was a Dodger twice for a total of nine seasons, and when he arrived in 1994, he was the first Korean to sign as an amateur and go to the Major Leagues.
“Chan Ho was very influential to me and very helpful and has given me insight into playing in the Major Leagues and giving me the dream to play in the Major Leagues,” Ryu said late last year, after the Dodgers won the rights to negotiate with him. “As a baseball alumni, he’s teaching me the ropes.”
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.