Abbott and Costello’s classic sketch “Who’s on First?” is arguably the funniest baseball sketch of all time. In fact, it is so popular among baseball fans that it actually plays on a loop at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. And while the primary focus of the hilarious eight-minute sketch involves the first baseman (Who), second baseman (What) and third baseman (I Don’t Know), Bud Abbott’s team has something that the Dodgers do not – a known center fielder (Because).

With the departure of Matt Kemp, the uncertainty of Andre Ethier’s and Carl Crawford’s future with the team and the likelihood that Yasiel Puig, Chris Heisey, Joc Pederson and Scott Van Slyke are not going anywhere, it brings up the question of who will be the Dodgers everyday center fielder?

If Crawford stays, and he very well may because of the $62.25 million still owed to him through the 2017 season, he will undoubtedly occupy left field most of the time with Van Slyke and Heisey platooning with him against lefties – that’s the easy part. Where things get complicated is with center field and right field.

It’s hard to argue that Puig played exceptionally well in center field after the All-Star break – certainly better than even the biggest skeptics predicted (nobody died). In fact, in the 53 games in which he appeared in center, Puig made 104 put-outs with eight outfield assists. He did, however, make two errors in 114 chances for a .982 fielding percentage. Conversely, in the 91 games that Puig played in right field in 2014, he made 150 put-outs with seven outfield assists while committing only one error in 150 chances for a much better .994 FPCT. But where things begin to come into focus is that Puig made two double plays from right field and only one from center. In other words, Puig’s incredibly strong arm better suits the team as a right fielder as opposed to a center fielder. Granted, two DP’s to one is not a big difference but were talking 144 games played, which is not a small sample size.

Taking this one step further, three of Puig’s most spectacular plays occurred when he was playing right field – one was his impossible diving catch on the dead run at Citi Field in New York and the other two were equally impossible throw outs of those foolish enough to test Yasiel’s arm. Realistically speaking, no other Dodger outfielder makes those plays from right field. And lest we forget, Puig made the 2014 NL All-Star team as a right fielder not as a center fielder.

After covering an impossible amount of ground, Yasiel Puig made an equally impossible diving catch against the Mets at Citi Field on May 22, 2014. (Photo credit – John SooHoo)

Based on all of this, the best center field option for the Dodgers heading into 2015 might be 22-year-old rookie Joc Pederson. Now before you say that it isn’t wise to stick a rookie in one of the two most important positions on the field (excluding the pitcher, of course) consider this: after his September 1 call-up, Pederson played two games in left field, five games in right field and seven games in center field. And although he did not have an outfield assist at any of the three positions, he also did not make an error in 15 total chances for a 1.000% FPCT.

Whereas Puig’s sample size was not small, Pederson’s absolutely was. As such, it’s not really fair to compare the two. But it is impossible to ignore the fact that Puig has a stronger arm than does Pederson and it has long been accepted that you want your strongest arm in right field for those occasional long throws to third base, which Puig does oh so well.

The unknown element to all of this is recently acquired outfielder Chris Heisey. In 2014 with the Cincinnati Reds Heisey played 31 games in left field, 11 in center and 13 in right . And although he did not have any outfield assists, he also did not commit an error for a 1.000% FPCT across the board.

When you put all of this together and with the inevitability that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi will make additional moves this off-season, it’s not a matter of Who’s on first, it’s a matter of Who’s in center.

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Abbott and Costello’s Line-up:

• 1B – Who
• 2B – What
• 3B – I Don’t Know
• SS – I Don’t Give a Darn
• LF – Why
• CF – Because
• C – Today
• P – Tomorrow
• RF – ???