Dodgers News: Yasiel Puig Fined For Being Late To Marlins Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oLa8-4mb68

Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig wasn’t in the starting lineup this afternoon and set off a media blaze after it was suggested that he should be benched for his base running and defensive plays.

Manager Don Mattingly said that he planned to keep Puig out of the lineup as he’s been in a 3-22 slump and has run into several outs. However, according to Tony Jackson of Dodgerscribe.com, he was also fined by Mattingly for arriving late to the park:

Puig fined by Mattingly for being late. Was out of lineup before that though. Don said lineup purely baseball decision, not disciplinary

— Anthony Jackson (@dodgerscribe) August 20, 2013

Puig’s excuse was he got caught in traffic. Mattingly said “he left late enough to make it too close.”

— Anthony Jackson (@dodgerscribe) August 20, 2013

It’s unfortunate that this will become a national story as Puig wasn’t benched, but there’s no excuse for arriving late to the ballpark. While he’s been a huge spark plug and a main reason for the Dodgers turnaround, Puig does need to mature.

Puig won’t speak pregame, but will after and it’ll be interesting to see what his thoughts are on not playing tonight and subsequent fine. Expect to see him either pinch hit or run as the Dodgers look to snap a two-game losing streak.