Los Angeles Dodgers Yasiel Puig making postseason history

On Friday night, all Yasiel Puig had to do was step on the diamond and he made postseason history for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Over the years, the Los Angeles Dodgers have spent a lot of time in the postseason. In franchise history, the Dodgers have 32 playoff appearances, with 23 appearances in the World Series, and six championships. A number of great players have been a part of the franchise, seemingly spending every October playing meaningful baseball.

And yet, for all those great players, and all of those playoff games, one player now stands alone with the most postseason games in Dodgers history. Just by taking the field on Friday night, Yasiel Puig became the all time leader in that category, breaking a tie with Andre Either.

As strange as it may seem, Puig makes sense as the answer to that statistic. The Dodgers have made the postseason in all six of his years in the majors, typically advancing beyond the first round. In 2017 alone, he was a part of 15 playoff games, more than two years worth of action prior to the divisional series era of the postseason.

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For the most part, Puig has found success in those games. His 2017 World Series notwithstanding, he has been a solid presence in the Dodgers lineup. Heading into Friday night, he had posted a respectable .279/.358/.409 batting line, hitting three homers and five doubles in his 173 plate appearances.

The power may not be there for Puig in the playoffs, but the other numbers in his slash line are remarkably similar to his regular season performance. Over his 2765 regular season plate appearances, he has a .279 batting average and a .353 on base percentage.

At this point, Puig is likely hoping for a return to the World Series, not only to build on his franchise record, but for redemption. The Dodgers as a whole are looking to avenge their defeat in seven games last year, a series in which Puig particularly struggled. He hit two homers, but had only two other hits in his 28 plate appearances, striking out five times.

Yasiel Puig has set a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record for the most games played in the postseason. He is hoping to extend that lead as much as possible over the next few days.