Yasiel Puig is just one young outfielder that has the Dodgers smiling (Mark Sullivan/Creative Commons)

I told myself I wasn't going to focus on Yasiel Puig. So here it goes...

Nope, can't do it. Yasiel Puig is energizing this team like no one player has since Fernando Valenzuela. Amid a lineup of stars including Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, and Matt Kemp, Puig continues to establish himself as the most exciting player on the field. He's got power; he's got a hell of an arm; and most of all, he's clutch. He's young (only 22 years of age), and his story of defecting from Cuba is worthy of Hollywood.

However, Puig's significance to this team goes way beyond the stats. Yeah, he's slugging an absurd 1.105 after his fourth home run in four games last night. But it's the way he fires up his teammates that's priceless - and what gives me faith in the last-place Dodgers. 

Okay, that's it for my Yasiel love-fest. Let's get to the point: the Dodgers are not in trouble.

Los Angeles was struggling mightily and one of the biggest problems was a lack of power coming from the outfield. Andre Ethier has been abysmal. Matt Kemp only had two home runs before he hit the disabled list. Before this recent streak, the Dodgers ranked near the bottom of Major League Baseball in both home runs and doubles. 

About a week into May, the Dodgers began using OF Scott Van Slyke as a pinch hitter and later as an occasional substitute to give the veterans rest. Don Mattingly couldn't have made a better decision. In only 61 plate appearances, Van Slyke has six home runs and five doubles. He strikes out a little too often, but the power he has is incredible to witness. The son of former major league Andy Van Slyke, the young outfielder gets terrific extension with his 6' 5" frame to repeatedly hit towering shots out of Chavez Ravine. With Van Slyke in the lineup the Dodgers finally had a presence of power in the outfield.

Now fast forward to about a week ago. With his job in question and his star center fielder headed to the disabled list, Mattingly called up Yasiel Puig. Back to that statement where I said Mattingly couldn't have made a better decision than calling up Van Slyke - that was in the pre-Puig Era. There were definitely questions about how Puig would handle Major League pitching. Now the only question surrounding Puig is, "What will he do next?"

So do two young outfielders really solve all the problems for the Dodgers? Will Puig and Van Slyke turn the team around? Not on their own they won't; but the beauty of what they bring to the team is that they won't have to. The rest of the team feeds off the energy they bring. Mattingly was quoted by the LA times as describing Puig's playing style as "fast, hard, and pure." That kind of electricity translates to the rest of the team. There are a lot more smiles in the Dodger dugout since Puig was called up, and it's not just because they've been winning.

The Dodgers just needed a spark. Since Puig has started, the Dodgers have won four of five. They've taken the first two from a Braves team that was riding a five-game win streak and is sitting on top of the NL East. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Zack Greinke, and Clayton Kershaw have been pitching well and can make it incredibly difficult to take a series from LA. Kemp will be back in a week and I have to think he'll find his swing again. Maybe a brief stint on the DL is all it takes to sort out the kinks. This Dodgers team isn't the one everyone expected in pre-season. It's a hybrid of old and new; it's a club with energy and emotion. It's time to get out of the cellar and back into the the race for the pennant.

By mid-August this team will be in the thick of it all. It's moving day Los Angeles.

Reach Staff Writer Matthew Tufts here and on Twitter.