GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds right fielder Yasiel Puig has been putting in the work, but he’s not always all business. The well-known playful antics he displayed with the Dodgers have come with him to Cincinnati.
Whether it's commandeering a golf cart to drive fellow outfielders Jesse Winker and Matt Kemp to batting practice or his trademark goofy stuff like licking his bat, Puig seems to be enjoying himself. For him, having fun equals being productive when the time comes.
“That’s the reason I like to have fun all the time during a game. Putting my tongue out, licking my bat and things like that,” Puig said Saturday. “I’m a better player when I have my crazy stuff around.”
Otherwise, Puig has generally been a normal teammate who likes to mingle with the other Reds in the clubhouse. He arrived in December’s seven-player trade from Los Angeles that also included Kemp, pitcher Alex Wood and utility player Kyle Farmer.
That, along with the hiring of manager David Bell, a new coaching staff and trades for pitchers Sonny Gray and Tanner Roark has brought a fresher enthusiasm to Spring Training and toward the upcoming regular season.
“We want them to be comfortable being themselves,” Bell said. “And [Puig] certainly is, and we think it’s great. More than anything, what stands out is his energy. He is happy to be here. He likes it here. He likes red. I think he does like red, but it also means he likes being here.”
On Saturday morning ahead of his start as the designated hitter vs. the Angels, Puig was across the clubhouse from his locker chatting with Scooter Gennett and Eugenio Suarez, among others.
Is Puig likable to his new colleagues?
“Oh, a lot man,” Suarez said. “He’s a good guy, a really good teammate. He works hard and I’m just excited to have this guy here in our clubhouse.”
Whether it’s sticking his tongue out, licking and talking to his bat, admiring home runs, kissing hitting coach Turner Ward and other things that often go viral, or behind-the-scenes joking with others, the Reds appear to welcome Puig being Puig.
“That injects a little bit more energy to our team,” Suarez said. “When he starts to do that, everyone here supports him. That’s what we want. We have a really good group and we need energy. When we need to work, we work. When we need to have fun, we’ll have fun.”
But sometimes there is a downside. Puig has a reputation for making mistakes, like missing cutoff men, running into outs or being late for meetings. Ward’s vouching for Puig was enough for the Reds to know that his upside far outweighs the downside.
“He’s got a lot of talent. He can do a lot of great things,” Suarez said. “He just has to play hard. If he does that, he’ll win us a lot of games.”
This will be an important year in many ways for Puig as he enters his final season before he becomes a free agent. He will earn $9.7 million with Cincinnati in 2019 after the two sides avoided arbitration on a one-year contract in January.
Puig, 28, batted .267/.327/.494 with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs over 125 games last season for the Dodgers, while being worth 2.7 wins above replacement. He has made no secret of his desire to cash in as a free agent. He was pleased to see big free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper get the giant contracts they wanted – albeit after Spring Training started. Unlikely to get a record-breaking contract like those superstars, Puig wasn’t concerned about the unknown that often comes with being on the open market.
“I’m not nervous,” said Puig, who made the playoffs with the Dodgers during all six of his seasons. “I go and play normally and do the best I can to help my team win. God knows what he has prepared for me at the end of the season.”
If Puig delivers what he’s capable of doing, and the Reds have a winning season, it could be a mutually beneficial 2019 for both.
“[I am] doing the best I can to get to Opening Day and have the best season I can have,” Puig said.