How impressive is Puig? All that speed and power come in an imposing 6-foot-3, 235-pound package, so Bo Jackson's name is getting tossed around a lot these days. One talent evaluator contacted for this story compared him to Roberto Clemente, and an AL scout seemed grateful for the opportunity to talk about him.
"When you see special things happen on a baseball field, it gives you tingles," the scout said. "I'd like to help you write a great story on this kid, because I think he's a freak."
Entering Wednesday's day-night doubleheader against the Yankees in the Bronx, Puig is hitting .479 (23-for-48) with a 1.271 OPS and a dramatic flair that can't be quantified. He hits grand slams to win games, throws out baserunners to end games, and leaps moderately sized buildings in a single bound.
When baseball personnel people try to summon names from the past to describe budding stars in the present, some habits are hard to break. Historical comparisons are typically made along racial or ethnic lines, so Lorenzo Cain gets compared to Mike Cameron, Christian Yelich is likened to Jacoby Ellsbury or a young Shawn Green, and Yasiel Puig's main comps are Jackson, Raul Mondesi, a young Sammy Sosa or his fellow Cuban defector, Cespedes.
But Puig is so unlike anything that's arrived on the scene in recent years, it's doubly challenging for scouts to get a read on him. Although he's very raw in a lot of ways, three of his five tools -- power, speed and arm -- rate a 70 or above on the 20-80 scouts' scale. The other two, his glove and pure hitting ability, are well above average.
"With some players it's really easy to say, 'He reminds me of someone,'" said an AL pro scouting director. "With others you have a hard time. I don't really have a comparison for this guy. He's Puig."
Here's hoping this doesn't jinx him, but he's been one of the brighter spots in recent Dodger Blues history. I think he deserves a thread at this point.
Nice shot in the Bronx too.
