USA TODAY International Edition
Dodgers’ Puig ‘as good as it gets’
Los Angeles right fielder embraces big stage spotlight with energized antics
BOSTON – As Yasiel Puig prepared to meet the media on the eve of the World Series, front and center was an ESPN Deportes reporter who, just two nights earlier, was drenched by a bucket of water Puig deposited over his head. “Mi her-ma-no!” Puig playfully addressed him. “Esta bien?” “Seco,” he replied tersely. Indeed, the reporter was dry, a far cry from Saturday in Milwaukee, yet another evening that epitomized Puig’s life. His three-run homer was the crushing blow in the Dodgers’ 5-1 victory in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. Puig celebrated with a series of wild gesticulations around the bases — crotch-chopping, as the kids call it — and he was irrepressible, at times too much so, during the clubhouse celebration that followed. The towel-waving, the gestures, the tongue-wagging — all are quite accepted by Puig’s teammates and mentioned as rallying points and endorsed in commercial form by Major League Baseball. Six years into a highly scrutinized career, Puig and the Dodgers have seemingly learned to meet each other halfway. That doesn’t mean Puig can’t be a little extra sometimes. “Sometimes I do my stuff, like kid or crazy stuff, and sometimes people don’t like it,” he said Monday. “But that’s the way I play, that’s the way I feel good, and that’s when I play better. “But yes, every day, every moment, every opportunity I’m growing up a little bit and playing baseball the way the people want to. I focus and do the best I can on the baseball field.” Since Puig, 27, joined the Dodgers in 2013, they’ve known nothing but playoffs — six division titles and now backto-back World Series appearances. He’s now the longest-tenured Dodgers position player, and while his stock is always volatile, it’s pretty high right now. Two years ago, he was optioned to the minor leagues, then played sporadically in the 2016 playoffs. He enters this World Series as one of their top postseason performers, with 10 hits in 30 atbats and a .429 on-base percentage. The Dodgers are so deep that only a handful of players are truly indispensable. They also know few possess Puig’s skill set. “There are times it can be frustrating with Puig,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says, “but his talent is as good as it gets. What he can do on a baseball field in every facet is something that not many people can do.” Puig, an All-Star in 2014, has hit 25 and 23 homers the past two seasons while stealing 15 bases both years. His rocket arm in right keeps baserunners honest, and sometimes sends balls sailing past the cutoff man. His plate discipline is volatile from year to year — a .346 on-base percentage in 2017, .327 this season — but he’s always a threat. That risk-reward is part of the Puigian bargain the Dodgers are still happy to strike. “Certainly our job as coaches is to continue to teach players,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday. “And there is certainly a lot of upside with Yasiel. There’s a lot of energy. “There’s a little bit of — there’s some recklessness. So my job, the coach’s job, is to continue to embrace it to some extent but also harness it. But with Yasiel, the net is certainly a positive.” In the clubhouse, Puig remains the sibling who can grate on you after seven months in close quarters but also pick you up. “There’s been a growth and a maturity in him. I think guys are closer to him,” says third baseman Justin Turner, largely regarded as the team leader. “Obviously, having success helps him be more of a confident player. He’s had that success in the postseason, so he’s feeling really good right now. “Today’s game it’s kind of become part of it — express yourself, be your own guy, have fun, enjoy the game. That’s something he does probably as good as anyone in baseball. All we ask of him is to make sure while he’s expressing himself, while he’s having fun, to do things the right way.” Infielder David Freese says he wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived in an Aug. 31 trade from Pittsburgh. While few can match Puig’s high energy, Freese notes that players who are too low-key can be just as frustrating. “So you have to pick your spots on jabbing at somebody because everybody can help out with all their different personalities,” Freese says. “I’ve had a blast being around him, in the clubhouse, on the plane, just seeing how he interacts with everybody. He has a good old time. He’s just a ballplayer. He’s real, which I appreciate. He’s not going to hide who he is.” Puig is back on baseball’s biggest stage, intent on, as he puts it, not trying to do too much as he did last October, when he suffered through a 4-for-27 World Series in a seven-game loss to the Astros. That doesn’t mean he’s going to suppress himself. Batting coach Turner Ward, who’s developed a bond with Puig, says the Cuban outfielder reminds him of Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, who in drawing attention to himself alleviated the scrutiny on other players, allowing them to shine. “It’s a love-hate relationship, always, and I don’t mean that in a negative sense at all,” Ward says, “because we’re family here. And you know what? You don’t always get along with your brothers and sisters and don’t always like what your mom and dad do. “So we ride through the good times and bad times, and to me, this is kind of what brought us together.” Right now, the times are good. This Dodgers team faces a significant task against the 108-win Red Sox, and then an offseason of potentially significant change will follow. Puig will remain under club control one more season, though any number of winter dominoes could compel the Dodgers to try again to trade him. For now, he’s part of a group nearing its ultimate goal, with a right fielder willing them along and largely toeing the line, even if he sometimes creeps over it. “Everybody does an amazing job in the clubhouse, we enjoy us as a family, playing with love,” Puig says. “Everybody’s together, and that’s why God gave us this opportunity to get back in the World Series.”