Jorge L. Ortiz

USA TODAY Sports

Puig%27s high-energy goes beyond the playing field

Puig resigned to the reality that he lives under a microscope

Veteran players voiced objection to Puig%27s flamboyant style

PHOENIX -- Some of the liveliest competition in the early part of spring training for the Los Angeles Dodgers has taken place at the clubhouse ping pong table, which rarely goes unused.

The sport is not commonly played in Yasiel Puig's native Cuba. But when countryman Alexander Guerrero challenges him to a game, the excitable outfielder delays his lunch plans, lays down his cell phone and takes on the rookie.

Amid their banter and the occasional argument about the score – "This guy doesn't know how to count," Puig blares – he screams with delight over good shots and twice does a twirl while awaiting Guerrero's returns. On his way out the clubhouse after claiming victory, Puig slaps infielder Dee Gordon's hand and exclaims in English, "Dee, what's up baby?"

A kid in a candy store would not be happier.

That's the Puig teammates often see, a chattering bundle of energy whose effervescence carries beyond the ballpark and onto the team bus, the plane, the hotel or wherever the Dodgers go.

Then there's the other side of Puig, the volatile, impetuous player who raised the ire of opposing teams and fans with his exuberant antics while alienating the news media with his curt refusals to cooperate.

"He is easily the most polarizing player I've ever played with," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "The reaction Dodger fans give him, they're the loudest ovations by far of anybody on the team. He goes out to right field and the bleachers are just going berserk, especially after he's done something amazing.

"And then we go on the road and the boo-birds are out, coming down on him."

As Puig enters his second season in the majors, the Dodgers are doing everything possible to reshape the image and public demeanor of their most marketable commodity.

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Terrific offseason

They point out Puig's kindness toward kids, displayed during the team's community service caravan and when he twice in the offseason invited a group of Little Leaguers for baseball workouts and hot dogs at Dodger Stadium.

They say he has welcomed the tutelage of part-owner Magic Johnson, the L.A. icon who has talked to him about what it takes to be a professional athlete.

They reiterate Puig was just 22 and a year removed from a drastically different life in Cuba when he became an overnight sensation in the majors last summer.

And they insist Puig's speeding arrest in December – when he was caught driving 110 mph on a Florida highway – was a slip-up, not an indication of a reckless mentality even though it was his second episode in less than a year. He now has a friend drive him.

"But for the one very, very disappointing incident in Florida, he's had a terrific offseason," team president Stan Kasten said. "He's worked out hard, but he's also done a lot in the community, and took it upon himself, because he has a real interest in developing his persona. He's talked to Magic about the kind of person he can make himself into if he's smart about it."

The defending NL West champions might not need Puig to flash a Magic-like smile to sell tickets, considering they led the majors in attendance at better than 3.7 million and capped season-ticket sales at around 34,000.

But with their new SportsNet LA channel set to launch next Tuesday, bringing unprecedented 24-7 Dodgers coverage to the club's legions of fans, Puig's biggest foil so far – the media – might become an even more constant and intrusive presence, even if they work for the team.

Kasten vows there will be no shortage of Puig-related content on the network, and Puig sounds resigned to the reality he lives under a microscope.

"We don't have a lot of privacy, those of us who are athletes or get attention in this country, but we try to adjust and share with people," he said in a Spanish-language interview early in camp. "We're recognized wherever we go, so you have to offer a smile to the public or to that person who is greeting you.''

That was one of the lessons from an eventful rookie season that was as notable for Puig's accomplishments – his 44 hits in his debut month were the second highest total ever, after Joe DiMaggio's 48 in 1936 – as for the hackles he raised.

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Talent not in question

Veterans like Arizona catcher Miguel Montero and outfielder Carlos Beltran were among players who voiced objection to Puig's flamboyant style.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks, who open the season March 22 in Australia, engaged in a brawl in June after Puig and Montero were hit by pitches. Montero said Sunday if Puig played in a previous era, he would have been drilled more frequently.

"He's one of those guys you may not like when you play against him, but want him on your team," he said. "(He's got) a bit of arrogance that doesn't sit well, but that's the way he is."

Montero, however, acknowledges Puig's rare talent and there's a great sense of expectation among the Dodgers about the kind of player Puig can turn into if he harnesses his wilder instincts. In 104 games as a rookie, he batted .319 with 19 homers and a .925 on-base plus slugging percentage, infusing life on a moribund team upon his June arrival.

But Puig also slumped in September, batting .214, and after a stellar first round of the playoffs (.471 average), he struck out 10 times in 22 at-bats in the NL Championship Series as the Cardinals knocked off the Dodgers in six games.

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax joined the chorus of Puig advisors Monday, telling reporters at Dodgers camp that he hopes Puig improves his fundamentals and harnesses his skills, such as his powerful throwing arm.

General manager Ned Colletti said Puig took the playoff loss hard and is determined to improve. Puig struck out once every 4.5 plate appearances as a rookie and, according to fangraphs.com, swung at 38.9% of pitches outside the strike zone, seventh highest in the NL.

"I look for his game to be a little more refined this year," Colletti said. "He's got a chance to be one of the great players, but it's going to depend on how he adjusts. We're confident in his desire to be great."

What they don't know for sure is how much Puig has matured, if at all, and likely won't find out until they get into the grind of the season - Puig's first 162-game campaign - although there have been signs of progress.

Puig was contrite about the Dec.28 speeding incident, which was exacerbated by the release of a video from a dashboard camera that showed Puig – wearing pink shorts – pleading with the arresting officer. Puig is later heard chastising himself for getting into such a predicament a second time.

He's also heard telling the officer he was taking his mother to see his son, Diego Alejandro, who was born in early December.

Puig, who often engages kids at the ballpark and hands them wristbands and batting gloves, said he's eager to bring his own to the workplace.

"I can't wait till he grows up and can come to the stadium and play with my teammates' sons," he said.

Dominican-born third baseman Juan Uribe, one of Puig's mentors on the team, uses a parental analogy in preaching patience to those expecting the outfielder to be a polished product on and off the field.

"It's like with a kid. You have to be on them and on them until the kid listens and learns," Uribe says. "He's a young man who comes from essentially nothing, and coming to the United States has given him a different type of life.

"He's a young man. But I think he's going to do all he can and he's going to improve a lot."?