Another day, another Yasiel Puig story.
It’s been an eventful couple of weeks for the Cuban slugger. A few days after Puig called for a team meeting with his Dodger teammates to help him get better, the second year outfielder showed up late for the Dodger Home Opener. This lead to Manager Don Mattingly benching Puig for the game, and replacing him with Matt Kemp, who came off the DL on Friday.
Yahoo Sports has more info on the latest Puig situation.
Yasiel Puig was scratched from the starting lineup after arriving late for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ home opener on Friday.
The rest of the team was already on the field stretching before batting practice while Puig was getting dressed in the clubhouse. He had been slated to start in right field for the afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants.
Add Puig’s tardiness to his growing laundry list of frustrating moments. For the Dodgers, they just want to see Puig mature and adapt better to the expectations that come with being an MLB player. At the end of the day, this may be nothing more than a player getting stuck in the infamous Los Angeles traffic, but the second-year outfielder still should know better, especially before a home opener.
It will be interesting to see if Yasiel makes the change or continues down the path he seems to be on.