Nothing seems to faze Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig.
Hours after Dodgers manager Don Mattingly benched the rookie sensation for recent struggles at the plate and "baseball mistakes" and fining him for arriving late to the ballpark for Los Angeles' game against the Miami Marlins, Puig homered in the seventh inning during his first at bat.
The benching was the first for Puig, other than for health reasons, since he joined the club in June.
MLB.com reporter Ken Gurnick tweeted Tuesday night that Puig was not in the starting lineup because of his struggles at the plate, rather than his late arrival.
FoxSports.com reported that Mattingly also said a Puig-less lineup would give the Dodgers their best chance to beat the Marlins on Tuesday night.
According to the report, Puig told Mattingly that he left his family's Miami-area home too late and got stuck in traffic. Mattingly summoned Puig for a meeting to discuss the rookie's recent missteps on and off the field.
According to a tweet from David Vassegh of the Fox Sports radio affiliate in Los Angeles, "Mattingly said his meeting w/Puig was to let him know he isn't in lineup and talked about the baseball mistakes and why he was late today."
Orange County Register reporter Bill Plunkett tweeted about the dollar amount of the fine Puig received for being late
"Puig was fined for late arrival today. Mattingly: "More than a dollar. Less than 10,000". Told Mattingly he got caught in traffic. #Dodgers"
But ESPN's Ramona Shelburne tweeted that Mattingly simply was trying to give a slumping Puig the day off and was hoping not to cause a stir by not putting him in the lineup. Puig had been hitless in his last 11 at-bats going into Tuesday night's game and was 6-for-35 in his last nine game that dropped his average to .351.
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