Yasiel Puig is a hell of a ballplayer. While the catch you see above isn’t the greatest double play we’ve seen in the last ten years (and yes, I know it isn’t a double play, but Ron Darling said it would have been if it was … umm, Endy?) and it isn’t the best catch we’ve seen at Citi Field, it proves that Yasiel Puig is a baaaaaaad man and a dangerous baseball player.
And he’s a giving sort. Here he is holding a clinic specifically for New Yorkers on how to execute the bat flip:
[mlbvideo id=”33018735″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]I think we, as True New Yorkers, should give back to Yasiel by teaching him a thing or two. Specifically, we should teach him out to run the bases. It’s the least we could do. Because think of how dangerous a talent like Puig would be if he knew how to do the things that don’t make SportsCenter?
Not that I’m complaining or anything, because Puig’s basepath adventures helped the Mets to a 5-3 victory to salvage one game in the series against the Dodgers. It would have been a little hairier had Puig not run past second base for some reason after Daniel Murphy let an infield fly drop and get himself doubled off second. Then …
[mlbvideo id=”33080459″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Eric Campbell took advantage of Puig’s enthusiasm to double him off second base in the 8th after a great diving catch. Here’s the irony: Campbell was put in the outfield because he was swinging the bat well, and he helps the Mets with his glove. Also ironic was that this is the lineup that Terry Collins should have leaned his “I’m worried about offense not defense” line against. Then maybe we all would have believed him. Thursday’s lineup, along with the usual suspects, featured Juan Lagares and Campbell in the outfield with Lucas Duda at first, and Wilmer Flores at shortstop. Of note: No Chris Young, and no Eric Young. The offensive additions worked well enough, with a sac fly by Campbell, and the winning hit by leadoff hitter Juan Lagares. The offense was also aided by a Jon Niese double, a Curtis Granderson triple, and a Justin Turner error.
Turner tried to make up for his gaffe with perhaps the most important two run home run in the history of Justin Turner’s life …
He probably won’t admit it, but that had to be the most satisfying homer of Turner’s life.
— Andy Martino (@MartinoNYDN) May 23, 2014
That was his ninth career major league home run. So he certainly has a lot to choose from, including the huge home run in the eighth inning against Daniel McCutchen which made the score 9-3 Pirates. Or that first inning home run off Wandy Rodriguez which made the score 4-2 in a 10-6 loss. Or the two home runs against Cleveland last season when the Mets were three million games out of first place.
Well I hope he enjoyed that extremely satisfying home run, because it meant nothing. He can hit himself in the face with a pie if he was that satisfied.
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