Puig draws first outfield start, praise from Mattingly By AJ Cassavell / MLB.com | 02/27/2013 3:10 PM ET GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Posted on the clubhouse lineup card at Camelback Ranch on Wednesday morning was a sight Dodgers fans are looking forward to seeing many times in the future: Starting outfielder Yasiel Puig. The club's No. 1 prospect, according to MLB.com, got the nod in center field on Wednesday and batted eighth, marking his second start of the spring and his first start in the outfield. (He was the DH on Sunday.) Puig entered Wednesday's game 2-for-8 with a double and three strikeouts. But a far more accurate assessment of his performance during Spring Training comes from manager Don Mattingly, who has had his eye on the 22-year-old since Day 1 of camp. "The best word for me with Yasiel is 'raw,'" Mattingly said. "This guy is full speed. He is a beast. It is a body in motion. When this guy comes around the bases, it's a train coming. ... But it's raw, and it's full speed, and I like it. It's like a wild horse." The Dodgers signed the Cuban prospect to a seven-year, $42 million deal last June. That contract came a week before MLB began limiting bonus money for international free agents. Puig hit .354 with five homers in the Minors last year in time spent between the Arizona Rookie League and Class A Rancho Cucamonga in the California League. But he scuffled a bit in the Puerto Rican winter league, hitting just .232 with one homer and 19 strikeouts in 69 at-bats. Now he's in his first big league camp with the club, and it's been all positives for Mattingly, though he said that's easy when you're starting a season healthy and full of energy. The real test, he said, will come as the summer grinds along. As for how long it'll be for Puig's progression to the big leagues (MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has his ETA at 2014), Mattingly was succinct in saying, "It's up to him." "We'll see," Mattingly said. "The story hasn't been written yet. He didn't get to play a whole lot last year. He had some injuries and whatnot. This year hopefully will be a full season with a lot of at-bats and you get a better picture." __
Put dreadlocks on him, change the number to 99 and this kid looks like a younger, more fit Manny. Drooooooling....
K Kemp needs to take him under his wings along with Mota, Lopes, Wallach and DBB and teach him to avoid the learning mistakes Matt made. He could be a freaking monster along with Monster Kemp. McGwire working with him could be monumental.
I wish everyone had the opportunity to listen to the games right now. Our approach at the plate is so very different and we can only hope the starting 8 have learned their lesson as the bench and minor leaguers seem to be.
It mystifies me how he was ranked so low on prospect lists. Tools wise he has as much upside as any prospect in the entire minors sans like, Oscar Taveras. His issue is obviously making contact, and that's a big issue, but on upside alone I'd take him over almost any guy in the bottom half of top 100 lists.
We're the Dodgers man. We aren't gonna get love. Learn to embrace it. One reason might be his mechanical make up is very Pence like (Mainly his defense and throwing motion). He looks like a dork out there. Except Puig is obviously way more talented of course.
I don't care if he's actually twenty-seven, seventeen, or forty, just as long as he mashes... and isn't on roids.ray:
Cautiously optimistic because we know so little about him. It would be really cool to have a superstar team of Back, White, Korean, Cuban, Mexican, Dominican players. The Dodgers think big.
I think it's the fact that he's still a relative unknown, he's never had a full minor league season or even half of one. So I think once he's shows he's the real deal he'll shoot up the lists. People were putting him on the lists based on pure tools and like you said, he's a monster. Lets see if he has the baseball skill to back it up after hopefully a full season AA.
Yasiel should put some serious pressure on CC and AE this season. The word here is you better rake or you will become a roster move...
Please expand... I have noticed that the game scores look like football scores, but I was giving more credit to crappy pitching than us being an offensive juggernaut... after all, Alfredo Amezaga is one of our offensive leaders right now, so that should tell you...
like vin said, when this guy walks into a room, you stop. he is huge. but damn he is raw. its gonna take at least a year for him to get going
They are showing patience and making pitchers throw a lot of pitches and taking what is given and playing team ball. Some has been against frontline pitching some has been against not the best. It is the approach and not coming up and hacking away right away. They are doing a nice job working counts batter to batter to batter. Uribe has even seen five or more pitches before sucking.
In the 2nd inning Puig guns out a runner from right field trying to go from first to third on a base hit. Is Puig the next El Canon?
