PHOENIX, Ariz. >> The Spanish word for rules is “reglas.”

Dodgers infielder Alex Guerrero discusses the reglas of baseball with his Cuban accent, dropping the “g” to the point of imperceptibility. “There are distinct rules for playing baseball in Cuba,” he said in Spanish, “distinct rules in the United States.” But something is lost in translation.

The bases are all 90 feet apart in Cuba. The pitcher’s mound is 60 feet and six inches from home plate. Three outs, nine innings ‑ the reglas are the same.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez explained.

“One of the things I know from playing winter ball, being around Latin American countries, is that the time that counts is the game time,” Gonzalez said. “If you don’t want to show up for BP, you don’t have to. … The extra work is up to you. So when you get here and they’re saying ‘you have to be here for BP’ you’re like, ‘why? I don’t need it,’ because you never needed it your whole life.

“Here if you don’t get in the weight room, they label you as a guy who doesn’t work. People are so worried about all the things that you do” ‑ Gonzalez draws out the word “allllll” for effect ‑ “and not just what you do on the field.”

There are two Cuban defectors on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster, Guerrero and star outfielder Yasiel Puig. Puig has spent the majority of his time in the United States (almost three years now) on the Dodgers’ major-league roster. When Puig bends or breaks the rules, it’s a topic of interviews and articles and news cycles.

Guerrero spent almost all of last season with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate. The shelter of playing in Albuquerque, N.M., allowed him to adjust to the rules out of the public eye. Unlike Puig, Guerrero’s transition to the culture of American baseball was hardly a topic of public debate.

And Guerrero had even more to take on than Puig. A shortstop all his life, Guerrero was asked to play second base in spring training last year. The adjustment was rough at Triple-A, and Guerrero wound up going back to shortstop, then to third base and left field as the organization tried turning him into a utility player.

But it was Guerrero’s bat that earned him a four-year, $28 million contract from the Dodgers in October 2013. Puig once batted .330 as a 19-year-old in Serie Nacional, the top league in Cuba; Guerrero had seasons of .338 and .343 at ages 21 and 22.

Back then though, Guerrero was comfortable. He was playing at home with his wife and children nearby. Shortstop was his only position. That all changed once he arrived in the United States.

When Guerrero hit .329 with 15 home runs in 65 games for Albuquerque last year, it came with a series of caveats. He’d been playing in a hitter-friendly league, against less experienced pitchers, absent the big-league spotlight. During a Triple-A game in May, Guerrero lost a portion of his ear in a dugout fight with a teammate. The recovery sidelined him nearly two months.

Except for that incident, few considered how much Guerrero’s life had changed on and off the field in the span of a year.

“I think all the unknowns, as they get put beside you, you’re more and more comfortable,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “Hitting comes and goes. You go 0 for 3 or four games in a row, you’re uncomfortable. But the confident guys think ‘it’s just a matter of time. I don’t have any hits but I’m going to hit.’”

Now 28, Guerrero is playing with an ease that was missing a year ago. He has six hits in his first nine Cactus League at-bats, including a home run Saturday against Milwaukee.

“I have a lot more confidence,” he said.

Asked why, Guerrero responded, “One year of experience. The amount of practice I’ve had. I haven’t practiced as much as I have since it’s different in the United States. A lot more practice, obviously. The experience in Triple-A helped me a lot as well.”

Gaining confidence was never an issue for Puig, who can come across like 240 pounds of rollicking swagger. In Los Angeles and as a minor leaguer, Puig usually seemed to perform whether or not he’d mastered the reglas of American baseball.

Confidence? “I had it from Day 1,” he said in Spanish.

Guerrero is a different person, older and more measured when he speaks. His wife and daughter arrived in the United States two months ago from Cuba, and that matters.

There was talk at the beginning of camp about how the Dodgers might be “stuck” this season with Guerrero, who can’t be optioned to the minor leagues without his permission. But there’s still time for him to turn his contract from a burden into a blessing.

“Mentally I’m confident,” Guerrero said. “I’m relaxed.”