Puig letting bat do the talking as he adjusts to Majors

PITTSBURGH -- Naturally, people want to hear from Yasiel Puig. In just 13 games, he's been one of baseball's biggest stories.

Because of all the media attention he's received in his young career, Puig, a Cuban defector, has decided to decline most interviews. He's batting .479 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 48 at-bats.

"The way that the media covers baseball now, everything gets overblown, so he did have a lot of things on his plate the first week," Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. "But I think he's going to handle it well."

Puig has been especially quiet since Tuesday's benches-clearing incident with the D-backs, when he was hit in the face by an Ian Kennedy fastball, then threw a punch at Eric Hinske. He was fined, but not suspended.

Don Mattingly said Puig never complained about the media attention, but he could tell the outfielder was bothered by it. And the manager denied being behind Puig's denial of some interview requests.

"I'm behind him having fun and playing his best baseball," Mattingly said. "I know he's been bothered by some of it, and it's not fair to him. He's 10 days in the big leagues. I know he's put up huge numbers, but that doesn't mean he's capable or ready to talk about what he's doing all the time."