Yasiel Puig has had a really fun time since getting sent down to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers. Typically, players would prefer to stay in the big leagues for obvious reasons, but Puig is being Puig, and having a ball.
On top of playing well, hitting .375 in 64 at-bats with the team, Puig tried something new on Sunday night. While sitting on the bench, he threw on his batting helmet, and went to coach first base in the OKC Dodgers’ 6-1 win over Colorado Springs. Here’s some video of Puig’s coaching stint:
#PuigYourCoach pic.twitter.com/bz32yxQXmw
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) August 29, 2016
Since we’re talking about Yasiel Puig, the outfielder didn’t just let his moonlighting in the coaching box pass without comment either.
Helping my team in any way I can #PuigYourCoach😎😜 https://t.co/Yxyxw8YLOZ
— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) August 29, 2016
Hey, he’s helping all of us. Sports are supposed to be fun, right? Puig’s teammates had a good time with him coaching first base.
The Dodgers would obviously like Puig to apply himself more, however. Maybe he has a future in coaching, though they team would probably like to see him pursue that after he’s done earning the $14 million he’ll be paid through 2018. How much is coming up with hilarious hashtags for himself worth in baseball dollars these days?
Hopefully, Puig is able to get back to his old ways in Triple-A and make his way back to Los Angeles in time to contribute to a postseason run. But it might be too late for all of that, as it seems the Dodgers are pretty much over him. The outfielder was placed on trade waivers yesterday, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, and figures to draw some interest at 25 years of age with an affordable contract.
Maybe if George Lombard is out as the first base coach for the Dodgers after the season, Puig can take his place. But there are surely plenty of other MLB clubs that would like him in their outfield, and he could probably benefit from the change of scenery at this point.
