Yasiel Puig

[Frayed Knot]

This guy is a Cuban defector who the Dodgers signed to a $42 million contract last year, a move that surprised nearly everyone as even the other teams who liked him (and not all did apparently) didn't think he was worth anywhere near that much and most wrote it off as just another example of the then new LAD ownership trying to make a headline-grabbing splash.
Anyway, the Dodgers called him up a couple days ago and all he's done in four games is go 7 for 16 with 3 HRs, 1 2B, 9 RBIs, and made a throw from in front of the wall in RF which doubled a guy off 1st to end a game. Last night he hit an 8th inning grand slam in a 5-0 Dodger win over the Braves.
Still might not wind up being worth $42mil, but so far so good.

What makes this even worse is that the Mets once spent a 1st round pick, and who knows how many hundreds of dollars, on Rich Puig out of Hillsborough High in Tampa (14th overall pick 1971) but his first four games in the majors turned out to be his only four games in the majors and consisted of a line score of 0-fer-10 with one walk.
Oh well.

[Benjamin Grimm]

His name is an anagram for "I is ugly ape."

How old is Yasiel? Or, probably more appropriately, how old does he claim to be?

[G-Fafif]

No relation to Rich Puig, I take it.

[Edgy MD]

The league just needs to make adjustments. Ummm....

[Farmer Ted]

The Mets made up for Puig by drafting another Hillsborough kid, Dwight Gooden. His cousin, Gary Sheffield, also a Hillsborough Terrier. Joe Pignatano is from Brooklyn.

[ashie62]

Mattingly is Puig's biggest fan..

[Frayed Knot]

Ashie62 wrote: Mattingly is Puig's biggest fan..

aka: his employment insurance


Puig was 1-for-3 last night vs Paul Maholm and the Braves and his hit was another HR (4th in 5 games)
Plus he drew his first walk! (it was intentional) .415/.450/1.105 // 1555

[smg58]

Rotoworld mentioned that the only previous player to hit four homers in his first five games was our own Mike Jacobs. That's sufficient perspective for me. Obviously the guy has a high ceiling, but he's playing above that ceiling now and the league will make adjustments.

It's also noteworthy that with all that payroll, it took a call-up to make the Dodgers interesting. (They still have as many losses as the Mets.)

[Edgy MD]

Here's hoping our next callup (who just had himself a Meh start in his last tuneup at AAA), makes our team as interesting.

[Edgy MD]

[youtube:1rvzqrqs]-UCbEGf9wm0[/youtube:1rvzqrqs]

[Zvon]

I liked that. He's an excitable boy. You could see him mouthing Puigsanity when his daughter says it. That guy should be a coach.

[Edgy MD]

Puig hit in the face last night, but somehow managed to stay in the game. Dodgers retaliated by hitting Greinke, triggering a massive brawl that included the roidy coaches.

[TransMonk]

Mark McGwire, Matt Williams, Kirk Gibson and Don Mattingly fighting like it's 1990.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It almost looks like they're about to snog. Is that McGwire and Williams in the foreground? I can read their lips: They're saying, "Are you as turned on as I am right now?"

[Gwreck]

Edgy MD wrote: Puig hit in the face last night, but somehow managed to stay in the game. Dodgers retaliated by hitting Greinke, triggering a massive brawl that included the roidy coaches.

Greinke is on the Dodgers.

After Puig was hit, Greinke hit Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy in the back.

Kennedy then hits Greinke with a pitch -- in the head -- and that's when the brawl was on.

[Edgy MD]

That's totally what I meant.

[Frayed Knot]

Man, I just recently saw the films of this game.
The fight wasn't that violent, but two of the three HBPs that set it off were right at guys' coconuts!!
We're going to see some suspensions out of this and because several of them could be starting pitchers (Kennedy especially) some could be fairly lengthy.

[Zvon]

Saw this last night on BB2nite as it was going down. Puig got nicked in the nose. The fight was violent in little uncontrolled spurts. Not crazy violent but there was some punches and tussles. But if that was a brewhaha most of it was brew.

That pitch up at Greinkes' head, that crosses any line involving traditional baseball behavior. Not even because it was up by his head, (tho as a teammate that location would get me up to throw a punch. That made it a million times worse) but because he was thrown at at all. That was over with the very well thrown and located retaliation pitch.

[Edgy MD]

Which certainly hurts the notion that by letting a team retaliate, it ends it.

[Frayed Knot]

Puig update: .435/.467/.729 // 1196 - in 90 PAs/85 ABs. 7 HRs