In second season, Yasiel Puig continues to amaze, and even improve

There are, to be sure, areas of his game on which Puig might yet improve. While he was safe on each of his first four stolen base attempts, he was gunned down
In second season, Yasiel Puig continues to amaze, and even improve
In second season, Yasiel Puig continues to amaze, and even improve /

After a slow start to the year, Yasiel Puig has a .326 batting average to go with seven home runs.
After a slow start to the year, Yasiel Puig has a .326 batting average to go with seven home runs :: Harry How/Getty Images

There are, to be sure, areas of his game on which Puig might yet improve. While he was safe on each of his first four stolen base attempts, he was gunned down on each of his subsequent three, giving him a small-sample-size success rate of 57 percent that is essentially unchanged from last year, when he went 11 of 19 (58 percent). All in all, though, while much of the focus has remained on Puig's convention-defying antics, he has somewhat quietly played to at least the star level he established as a rookie -- and he has done so in a much more disciplined, and therefore sustainable, way. Yasiel Puig does what he wants, and he has so far shown that what he wants is to change in the areas that really count.


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Ben Reiter
BEN REITER

Ben Reiter is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and for SI.com who has been with the magazine since 2004.