Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Yasiel Puig made headlines for the wrong reasons again Friday when he arrived late to Dodger Stadium for the team’s home opener against the San Francisco Giants at 1:10 p.m. local time.
As punishment, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly benched the young star and started veteran Andre Ethier in right field. Mattingly explained in his postgame press conference that he would have put Puig in the game if needed.
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Traffic in Los Angeles usually is brutal, which can make getting to the ballpark difficult during certain hours, but there’s no excuse to be late, especially for the home opener. Puig’s maturity has been questioned throughout his brief major league career. The St. Louis Cardinals were not happy with some of his antics during last year’s NLCS.
At least Puig did the right thing and apologized to his teammates.
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The Dodgers went on to lose 8-4 to the Giants, dropping their record to 4-2.
