Yasiel Puig's latest episode another test of Dodgers' patience
Early in the spring training before Yasiel Puig’s first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a group of Latin prospects walking into the clubhouse remarked out loud in Spanish about the terrible attitude of the team’s new Cuban outfielder.
The Dodgers have been trying to reform Puig’s attitude ever since, with mixed results.
Tuesday night’s two-middle-finger salute to heckling Cleveland Indians fans provided the latest indication that Puig, in his fifth season in the majors, still doesn’t know how to behave like a professional.
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As an isolated incident, this would hardly raise much concern. Puig’s hardly the first player to get fed up with fan harassment and respond with an obscene gesture. Heck, maybe he was just showing solidarity with Mr. Met - although Puig's double-fingered salute did earn him a one-game suspension from Major League Baseball, which he is appealing.
But it seems like just when the Dodgers have reason to believe they’ve tamed the so-called “Wild Horse,’’ he does something else to embarrass them. When it wasn’t his penchant for reckless driving it was the clashes with his teammates. Then there was the Miami barroom brawl in November 2015, the repeated tardiness and the instances of loafing on the field.
Every time Puig vows he’ll learn and do better, only to fall back on bad habits again.
And it doesn’t help that, as he was explaining Tuesday that the fans “kept making comments and I stooped to their level and saluted them that way,’’ Puig smiled through the interview with news reporters.
He might have been contrite, but that’s not the impression he gave off.
The latest Puig-related controversy emerged on a day when he snapped out of a 3-for-19 skid with a two-run homer, but his 2-for-4 game still left him with a .239 batting average and a .730 on-base plus slugging percentage. That last figure declined in each of his last three seasons, from .925 as a rookie in 2013 to .740 last year.
Amid his struggles in 2016, the Dodgers demoted him to Class AAA Oklahoma City in early August, with manager Dave Roberts saying, “We’ve been consistent with him as far as our desire for him to be a better person and baseball player.”
Before that, the Dodgers discussed trading Puig to the Milwaukee Brewers for All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun, though the talks fell through.
Upon his return to the big club in September, Puig appeared humbled by the experience. And there have been further indications this season of Puig finally showing some maturity, coming into the spring in excellent shape and accepting Roberts’ decision to usually bat him eighth in the lineup without major fuss.
However, this latest incident again raises the question of whether Puig is worth the trouble, especially when his output fails to match his enormous physical tools.
He’s still only 26 and a tantalizing talent, but the Dodgers don’t need him nearly as much as they did when Puig burst onto the scene in June 2013 and sparked their march to the first of four consecutive NL West crowns, becoming a local idol and national phenomenon in the process.
Rookie first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger, who homered twice off lefties Tuesday, is now the club’s offensive fulcrum. Bellinger’s 17 homers since his April 25 debut are tops in the big leagues.
Puig doesn’t even offer much relief from the Dodgers’ previous woes when facing left-handed pitchers, which have abated considerably this year. He’s batting just .167 against them.
With veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez returning to the disabled list due to back problems Tuesday, the Dodgers don’t figure to make a decision on Puig’s long-term future right away. His original seven-year, $42 million contract extends through next season.
At some point, though, the combination of his diminishing production and the continued aggravation may exceed the Dodgers’ patience. It’s fair to wonder how soon they will reach that stage.