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#pounditFriday, March 29, 2024

Yasiel Puig has funny quote about his approach at the plate

Yasiel Puig

Yasiel Puig, once one of the most promising young power hitters in baseball, has been dropped to eighth in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup after an up and down spring. He has responded well thus far, and his simple approach at the plate may have something to do with that.

Puig homered and had two hits in a 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres Wednesday night. When speaking with the media after the game, the 26-year-old touched on the importance of putting the ball in the air.

“What I think about is putting the ball in the air or else I’m going to have no money in my pocket,” Puig said, via Doug Padilla of ESPN.com.

While that may sound like a wise crack from a player who is notorious for goofing off, Puig was being serious. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said hitting coach Turner Ward has been working with Puig on keeping the ball off the ground.

“I think the game today, guys are stronger and there is [a pitcher’s] velocity,” Roberts said. “You put the ball on the ground, we have a lot of data to gather up ground balls [on defense]. With Yasiel, he’s so strong, he can hit the ball out of the ballpark anywhere. And yeah, if he can elevate the ball pretty much anywhere, he has a chance.”

Puig said he has also been working on improving his pitch recognition and swing. As for batting in the No. 8 spot when he was used to being part of the heart of the order early in his career, Puig is saying all the right things.

“I’m not used to it, but that was the position I was given and I’m going to ask God to keep me in the lineup,” he told reporters. “I will try to do my job. My teammates are doing a great job. They are all in the right [lineup] position and they have all been doing their job. They are in the position that is right for them. Now it’s my turn.”

Things have not gone well for Puig over the past couple of years, and that includes what happened at his home earlier this month. You could argue that no player in baseball has more exciting potential. Perhaps being dropped in the lineup will end up being the spark Puig needed.

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