Dodgers: One Big Thing Joc Pederson Misses About Playing with Yasiel Puig
These days, Joc Pederson is the elder statesman of the Dodgers outfield, at least in terms of time with the team. Of course, when young Joc made his debut in 2014, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier had each been in the LA outfield for the last nine seasons. Alongside them, however, the Wild Horse was loose.
Yasiel Puig made his debut a year before Pederson and the two played together through the 2018 season. Over those five years together, the two shared the highs and lows of being a big leaguer. Moreover, Joc shared the thing he loves most about his former teammate.
Joc Pederson is all of us… we all miss Puig.
More with Joc on YouTube: https://t.co/SX5NA95xmN pic.twitter.com/VJW6jk0TZM
— Blue Heaven (A Dodgers Podcast) (@BlueHeavenPod) July 19, 2020
Notably, this interview happened before Puig announced that he would no longer be signing with the Atlanta Braves after his positive COVID case.
[I miss] his joy… as much as he rubbed some people the wrong — but his joy. He was happy a lot of the time. He played the game very loose. He was funny — lighthearted… I miss Puig.
The Cuban-born outfielder was always a sparkplug for the Dodgers. Unfortunately, when he came up to the big leagues, baseball was a different game. His energy and jubilance rubbed a veteran locker room the wrong way at times. Still, he maintained that happiness even while he toned down the show on the field.
Thankfully Joc found the positive of Yasiel’s joy on and off the field.
Joc spent time with Dodgers Nation this week to talk about, among other things, the workout and home gym that changed the game for him during baseball’s COVID shut down. More of our conversation can be found below.
NEXT: Talking Shop with Joe and Joc
I still feel like Puig didn’t reach his full potential because the league rejected his personality he could never fully be himself. I think he’s going to end up here this season
God! I really hope so!
One of my all-time Dodgers!
I would love to see Puig back in a Dodger uniform either this year or someday.
But I believe the Dodger will win the World Series this year and would love to see the work and energy Puig gave to the team over his years as a Dodger to be rewarded with a ring.
I feel like the majority of baseball shares these recent sentiments about Yasiel Puig. Like him or hate him criticize him or defend him, he is really fun to watch because of That same positive and let loose that Pederson mentioned and he is therefore very very good for the game. Any team who gets him knows this.