Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds may be in favor of automated ball and strike calls after Thursday's display from home-plate umpire Marty Foster.

With Jesse Winker batting in the top of the ninth inning against the New York Mets, Foster called strike two on a borderline pitch. Winker proceeded to argue and was ejected just as his manager, David Bell, came charging out to protect his player.

Bell was also ejected.

Jesse Winker and David Bell both get ejected in the ninth inning in New York. pic.twitter.com/eqRIOWM1rh

— FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati (@FanDuelSN_CIN) May 2, 2019

That it was Winker who was ejected was not lost on Mets fans. The Reds outfielder waved goodbye to the fans following a game-ending sliding catch in Wednesday's contest, which drew boos as he led off Thursday's contest. He waved again after the ejection:

After trolling Mets fans all series, Jesse Winker got tossed and the Citi Field crowd couldn't wait to wave goodbye 👋

(via @SNYtv)pic.twitter.com/1jgYyJWWVO

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 2, 2019

"There were a lot of different expletives," Winker said of his Wednesday back-and-forth with Mets fans, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. "It's fun. At some point, I heard them chanting my mom's name, I think. Karen Winker. That's pretty much a standard thing. I grew up with two older brothers. I haven't heard anything that's gonna offend me. They've said it all growing up."

As for Thursday's game, Kyle Farmer pinch hit with an 0-2 count after Winker was ejected and was promptly called out on strikes on a pitch that was well outside. Yasiel Puig was also called out on strikes later in the inning to end the game with the potential tying run on second base on a pitch that was also outside the strike zone.

The poor calls by Foster and the ejections don't take away from Noah Syndergaard's brilliant performance in the Mets' 1-0 win.

He pitched a complete-game shutout with 10 strikeouts, four hits allowed and one walk. He also drove in the game's only run with a solo homer in the third inning.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Matt Kemp will miss at least the next 10 days with a chest injury.

The Reds announced Tuesday that Phillip Ervin has been recalled from Triple-A after Kemp was placed on the 10-day injury list with a broken rib. 

Kemp was injured during Sunday's 4-3 loss against the San Diego Padres when he crashed into the left-field wall trying to make a catch. 

In his first season with Cincinnati, Kemp is hitting just .200/.210/.283 with one homer and 19 strikeouts in 60 at-bats.

Kemp is coming off a bounce-back season with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he hit .290 with 21 home runs and 85 RBI, earning his first All-Star selection since 2012.

Any significant injury could be damaging for the outfielder as he heads into free agency this season.

The Reds will likely turn to Jesse Winker as their primary left fielder. Ervin, who was Cincinnati's first-round pick in 2013, is hitting .224/.291/.286 in 12 games at Triple-A. 

Yasiel Puig is no friend of the Los Angeles Dodgers anymore.

Puig made his return to Dodger Stadium on Monday night as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. In his first at-bat, he hit a two-run home run off Clayton Kershaw, who was making his 2019 debut.

Pleasure doing business with you!#BornToBaseball pic.twitter.com/Mcnm93UNRG

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 16, 2019

In what was largely a cost-savings maneuver, the Dodgers traded Puig to the Reds in December, ending his time in L.A. after six years.

"We're going to Los Angeles, and we need to be prepared to beat my old teammates," he said ahead of the game, per MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "It's going to be a lot of people there [who have] been waiting for Puig, Matt Kemp, Farmer, and Alex Wood is not here, but everybody expects a lot and been waiting for us to go back. We're excited to go back."

Perhaps Puig can use his homer on Monday to kick-start his 2019 season. He entered the night batting .163 with a .302 slugging percentage.

The Cincinnati Reds tore into the brown cardboard boxes like children into Easter baskets.

A shipment of Nerf Rival Guns, machine gun-looking things capable of shooting little foam balls up to 70 mph, had just arrived. It was all of, oh, about two seconds before Yasiel Puig had one in his hands and began roaming the clubhouse, picking off teammates.

Bang! Scooter Gennett was hit.

Uproarious laughter filled the air.

Blam! Vladimir Gutierrez, one of Puig's Cuban countrymen, was nailed.

The unsuspecting Gutierrez, pegged from behind as he sat at his locker, wheeled and looked—what the hell?—as Puig, wearing a custom spring jersey with his nickname, "Wild Horse," above the No. 66 across his back, moved onward.

In the moment, it was difficult to tell which was the Reds' best new toy: the Rival Guns, or Puig himself. The smart money was on Puig, who makes his first return to Dodger Stadium this week, the pasture where the love affair between the Wild Horse and his fans first blossomed.

Dick Williams, the Reds' president of baseball operations, says he was "overwhelmed" by how quickly Puig connected with Cincinnati fans after the Dec. 21 trade that brought Puig, outfielder Matt Kemp, left-hander Alex Wood, catcher-infielder Kyle Farmer and cash to Cincinnati in exchange for right-hander Homer Bailey and two minor league prospects.

"He was immediately out there on social media, wearing all the Reds gear," Williams says. "It was fun because that has to happen organically. You can't ask for that. But you would love for a well-known player to be that excited about coming here. The fans were like, whoa, hey, he likes us. And it made us all feel good about our organization."

Then Puig blew through town in late January and they felt even better.

"It ended up being on the day of the polar vortex, which was sort of a metaphor for him coming to this town," Williams says. "Schools are all off, and here he is bouncing around town, meeting the mayor, going to the youth academy, going to the stadium, making sales calls. People were like, what is going on here? It was really a fun day that I think kind of set the whole Puig-Mania going in our city."

Happy Birthday to Cincinnati Mayor @JohnCranley! Thank you for welcoming me to the city! 🎉🎂 pic.twitter.com/bzlcP2D87e

— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) March 1, 2019

Inside Cincinnati's clubhouse, the thrill continues.

"He's brought a sense of excitement," reliever Amir Garrett says. "At any moment, he does whatever he feels."

If two sentences could ever encapsulate the Puig experience, it is those. The first, brimming with optimism and a sense of wonder. The second, filled with what could be interpreted as a sense of dread and caution. It's a dynamic the Dodgers dealt with since his major league arrival in 2013 and the Reds must try to balance now.

The two sides of Puig have remained at odds throughout his career. Early this spring, Puig told reporters that the Reds will be getting an energized player because, for the first time in his career, he will become a free agent after the season.

"The last couple years," Puig said during the first week of spring training, "I didn't work hard because I still have a contract to go. Now I think I'll work hard more than any year in my life."

In Los Angeles, you could feel the eye rolls.

Did the Dodgers notice that the former All-Star "didn't work hard"?

"At times," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says. "And he actually said it at times with us, and we tried to deter him from that thinking."

Though he signed a seven-year, $42 million deal with Los Angeles in 2012 after his defection from Cuba, the closer Puig moved toward free agency, the more he talked about a future payday.

"And our message was, we're always trying to work in the moment," Roberts says. "Now. And helping us win right now.

"But those are his thoughts, and those are his words."

Words and actions that ultimately sealed his fate in Los Angeles, though the club is choosing its words very carefully.

"From our standpoint we wish Yasiel nothing but the best," Los Angeles president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says.

"He's been a big part of the success we've had here in the last few years. We're not going to jump into the fray with some of the comments he's made. They're a curious choice of words."

---

That Puig was notoriously late at times for meetings, stretching and other club activities in Los Angeles is no secret. That he was often on cruise control in conditioning drills and did not listen to coaches was evident to his teammates. That he would publicly admit to a lack of effort while discussing his future is only the latest Puig head-scratcher.

"Let's put it this way: If he even halfway gave a shit, he would still be with the Dodgers," one source familiar with the club's thinking says.

By the end of his run there, the Wild Horse's outsized energy—good and bad—pretty much left everyone exhausted in his wake.

"No comment," Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen says of Puig's admission. "That's his decision. He's my boy, I love him, but I'm done talking about Puig. He's not here anymore. I talk to him every day on the phone."

The trick for Puig in Cincinnati, of course, will be to leave the Reds and their fans wanting more. Doing so will be his first step toward free agent riches…or, possibly, toward enticing the team into extending his contract. His bat should rake in the Great American Ballpark bandbox.

But can he remain focused enough to put together the type of season they waited for through six summers in Los Angeles?

Following his rookie campaign in 2013, Puig finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting and 15th in NL MVP voting. Over the past two postseasons, Puig hit .292, the fourth-highest batting average among the 28 players who recorded at least 50 at-bats, and his 18 RBI tied for second-most.

And since his June 3, 2013, debut, Puig ranked 22nd in MLB slugging percentage (.478) and 32nd in on-base percentage (.353) entering this season.

Yet, there's the other side, too: In Game 3 of last fall's Division Series with Atlanta, the Dodgers were less-than-pleased when Puig was thrown out at second base attempting a steal with just one out and a three-run lead in the sixth inning. Running on his own, Puig later received a stern talking-to from his manager. In Game 1 of the World Series, Puig tried to throw out Mookie Betts at the plate from right field but missed the cutoff man—as he frequently does—and Betts was safe. Then there are his various other transgressions, including occasional tardiness. The Dodgers memorably benched him for their 2014 home opener when he arrived late to the stadium.

His outsized emotions have historically been difficult for him, and his team, to control. Cincinnati got a taste of that in its brawl with Pittsburgh earlier this month. Joey Votto practically had to go WWE and wrestle his teammate away from trouble—but Puig still got away. The league subsequently handed him a two-game suspension.

Still, there is so much to like, including, at times, his flamboyant ways. Like other spring traditions—first robin, first crocus—Puig's firsts in Cincinnati were enthusiastically logged: first bat lick, first hip-shaking shimmy on second base after a booming double…

"I told him maybe people under 18 are going to need to sign waivers to see him play," Gennett says, laughing. "It's just what he does, man. It's fun."

Gennett also made Puig a delicious offer.

"I told him we'd make him some Show Bats, the bat company I'm with, and we can put some chocolate finish on it so maybe when he licks it, it will taste good," the second baseman jokes.

Some wonder whether anything outside of Hollywood will satisfy the palate of a slugger who craves attention the way an Instagram celebrity does. Puig shoots down that theory, saying he came to this country to play baseball and as long as he is doing that and having fun, it doesn't matter where he plays.

"It's not about the city, it's about me," he says. "I bring the city on fire, bring the fans to the stadium every day and the stadium in Los Angeles [was] a party all the time with 45,000 people coming to see Puig, what's Puig going to do in the game, and it's going to be the same in Cincinnati."

Puig feeds off of his fan club just as the fans feed off of him. Though, at 28, if he continues to cut corners in his work, his skills may rapidly diminish. One talent evaluator says that his arm, once an 80 on the scouts' grading scale (which runs from 20 to 80), is now a 70 or 65 and will continue to deteriorate because he doesn't work on his throwing and, at some point, will no longer be an asset.

"Fans love the way I play, appreciate my crazy stuff in the game, lick the bat, running all the time, throw people out when all the other fielders can't throw somebody out like [I do]," Puig says. "Sometimes when I throw somebody out I say, 'Damn, how can I do that?' That's the way I play. I like to have fun every day in the game and that's the reason the fans love that from myself."

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, one of Puig's first tweets as a Red this spring did not go unnoticed. A picture of him fielding a fly ball with the caption "Work hard in silence. Let success make the noise #theprocess #newyear" also clearly showed the outline of…a cell phone in his back pocket.  

Work hard in silence , Let success make the noise ... #theprocess #baseball #challenge #newyear #2019 #mlb pic.twitter.com/16OoUil0PF

— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) February 17, 2019

The conduit between Puig and so much else—success, his new team, his future—is a familiar, comforting face. New Cincinnati hitting coach Turner Ward was with Puig for three seasons in Los Angeles (2016-18) after spending eight managing and coaching in Arizona's organization. He has developed a trust and friendship that few others have been able to establish with Puig.

"He's got such a big heart," Ward says. "I don't think a lot of people get to see that. They just see the stuff he does. Shoot, I've eaten dinner with his family, I've been to his house, he's been to Dave and Buster's with my family. He is family. Families don't always have to be all smooth, and when it's not you've gotta be able to get over it."

Ward has worked with both "#PuigYourFriend" and with "#PuigSoFrustrating" and knows it takes a mix of patience, understanding, hugs and tough love. Sometimes all at once.

"If all the other teams in the league hate him, that's good," Ward says. "We just don't want to be haters on our own team. He can frustrate the other side. I've been on the other side [as an assistant hitting coach] with the Diamondbacks. I've never misunderstood what he's doing. It's never to show anybody up. It's always to celebrate. He is a very joyful, exciting, celebrating person. That's the culture. That's what he brings into every place."

It's why Ward continues to allow Puig to plant a big kiss on his cheek upon the slugger's return to the dugout following a home run, a ritual that started two summers ago when Puig reached 20 home runs in a season for the first time.

"If you would have asked me five years ago, 10 years ago, especially 30 years ago if I'd ever let a player kiss me in the middle of a ballgame, I would have told you 'I'll be on my deathbed,'" Ward says. "Again, it's a celebration, a celebration of hard work."

Turner pauses.

"This game is hard. We should celebrate. I want to do a lot of celebrating with a lot of guys this year. Because I know how hard it is. To celebrate those moments is just as important as it is when we encourage during the down times."

Among those who will be first to put on their dancing shoes if Puig is the spark Ward believes he can be will be the beleaguered Reds pitchers, who have finished in the bottom four of the NL in ERA in each of the past four seasons, including 14^th last year and dead-last in 2017. Not only should Puig help the Reds outscore foes, but their pitchers no longer have to face him. Combined, Puig has scalded them for a .328 batting average and 1.038 OPS, including four homers and seven RBI, in 65 plate appearances.

"He's got that contagious energy," says reliever Jared Hughes, well aware that Puig is 4-for-6 with two homers and three RBI against him.

"He's so positive. He shows up, he's smiling all the time, having a great time. This is a game after all. Right? You shouldn't stress situations. We're trying to win, but it's a game, it's fun and he reminds everyone of that. During season when you hit a good streak and start winning, it becomes contagious and he's the type of guy who will help us continue our winning streaks."

Already this season, the Reds have drawn their largest- and smallest-ever regular-season crowds to Great American Ballpark (44,049 and 7,799, respectively). As is the case with Puig, the best scenario will be to avoid the extremes and find a productive comfort zone somewhere in between.

Not only Puig's production, but his work ethic, will be a determining factor.

"I said that, but that's not the reason I want to go hard this year," Puig says of his now-infamous early-spring comments.

"[It is] because I am given another opportunity being around a new team and real nice teammates and the first time I got here, everybody respect me and give me a lot of love. And I want to give it back to my teammates, and that's the reason I say this year coming in I will work harder than any other year."

As the Dodgers will be the first to tell you, they wish their former outfielder well. But you'll excuse them if they don't believe it until they see it.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.  

Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell and outfielder Yasiel Puig, along with Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez, were tossed from Sunday's game between the teams after the benches cleared in the top of the fourth.

After a little misunderstanding, we're back.

(Archer Ks Dietrich in the return) pic.twitter.com/OyAy7LQXHU

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 7, 2019

The incident was instigated by Pittsburgh pitcher Chris Archer, who didn't appreciate Derek Dietrich enjoying a long stare at a homer he hit. Archer threw behind him during his next at-bat, setting off the scuffle.

Puig was not backing down today in the Pirates-Reds altercation... pic.twitter.com/WQDfVnd9qg

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 7, 2019

Stand and stare.

Derek Dietrich was in no hurry to get out of the box on this splash shot.

(Via @Reds) pic.twitter.com/QZ7xiCRPMw

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 7, 2019

Reds pitcher Amir Garrett was also ejected.

Puig in particular may be looking at a suspension after being initially held back by Joey Votto and Melky Cabrera before re-entering the fray after it had largely calmed down and charging toward several of the Pirates players before the sides were separated. 

Puig spoke about the incident after the game, per FOX Sports Ohio:

"I didn't throw a punch." - Yasiel Puig speaks out about the benches clearing against the Pirates and the potential of a suspension for himself. pic.twitter.com/E4pPK98KsJ

— FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati (@FanDuelSN_CIN) April 7, 2019

The culture of retaliation in baseball remains a controversial topic, as many position players don't like pitchers throwing at them simply because they flip their bats, pause in the batter's box to admire a moonshot or simply show some emotion in the moment. 

While many pitchers contend they don't like being shown up, the counterargument remains that pitchers shouldn't give up homers in the first place if they don't want to see opposing players have a passionate response to the most exciting play in baseball—the home run.

Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper brought the growing divide on the topic to light in 2016, telling Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine that he had no issue with emotion in the game and felt it was important to cultivate, rather than stifle, that passion, using the late Jose Fernandez as an example:

"Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down into the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a homer and pimp it? He doesn't care. Because you got him. That's part of the game. It's not the old feeling—hoorah ... if you pimp a homer, I'm going to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot ... I mean—sorry."

"If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I'm going to go, 'Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time,'" Harper added. "That's what makes the game fun."

Major League Baseball even promoted the sport with a "Let the Kids Play" campaign, which highlighted moments of passion and took aim at the game's antiquated unwritten rules.

UPDATE: Tempers flare following this HR.

Chris Archer throws it behind Dietrich in his next AB, benches clear.

(via @FOXSportsOH) pic.twitter.com/YP9YmfRZXp

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 7, 2019

But some players aren't keen to see the unwritten rules go by the wayside. Archer is apparently among them.

On Monday, the Cincinnati Reds announced pitching prospect Hunter Greene needs Tommy John surgery after he suffered a setback in his elbow.

Greene is just 19 years old, but injuries have already been a dominant storyline early in his career. He sprained his UCL in August and missed the rest of the season but elected not to undergo surgery at the time and instead strengthen it as he looked toward the 2019 campaign.

"The positive, if there is any such thing, is that if it happens now when he's 18, he'll still only be 19 and ready to go," then-Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said at the time, per Kyle Melnick of MLB.com. "You almost figure it's going to happen. It happens to so many of them that I'm not in the least bit surprised."

Unfortunately for the Reds, he will not be ready to go at 19 following this setback.

According to MLB.com, Greene is the No. 31 prospect in the entire league and the No. 3 prospect in the Reds' system. Cincinnati selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, and he features a power arm with a fastball that can touch triple digits.

However, he struggled in 2018 while pitching in Single-A and finished with a 4.48 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 89 strikeouts in 68.1 innings.

Greene figures to be an important part of the future for a team that hasn't made the playoffs since the 2013 campaign, but his progress will be delayed with this news.

The Cincinnati Reds announced Saturday that second baseman Scooter Gennett will be out eight to 12 weeks with a groin strain.

Fletcher Page of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Gennett, 28, suffered the injury sliding for a ground ball from Milwaukee Brewers catcher Yasmani Grandal during a Friday spring training game.

Per Page, "Gennett appeared to say 'it popped' to trainer Steve Baumann before he was helped off the field by Baumann and Reds' manager David Bell."

Gennett had 23 home runs, 92 RBI and a .310 batting average last season. The 2018 National League All-Star also posted an .847 OPS.

Gennett's value to the Reds can't be understated. He finished first on the team in batting average and runs and second in WAR, home runs, RBI and OPS. Furthermore, FanGraphs listed Gennett with the fifth-best WAR among qualified second basemen in the league.

This is a significant blow to the Reds lineup, especially considering that Gennett could be out until mid-to-late June. That could force him off the field for nearly half of the regular season.

Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Jose Peraza will play second and Jose Iglesias will man shortstop in Gennett's absence.

The 24-year-old Peraza posted 14 home runs, 58 RBI, a .288 batting average and a .416 slugging percentage, all of which were career highs.

The 29-year-old Iglesias, who signed as a free agent with the Reds following four-and-a-half seasons with the Detroit Tigers, had five home runs, 48 RBI and a .699 OPS last season.

The Reds begin their 2019 season on Thursday at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With offseason acquisition Yasiel Puig entering his walk year, the Cincinnati Reds can expect big things out of the 2014 All-Star.

In an in-depth profile by ESPN.com's Alden Gonzalez, the charismatic outfielder revealed that his work ethic is going to be much different than in years past, given that he is looking to cash in during free agency next offseason.

"I never worked hard," Puig told Gonzalez. "Maybe that's the reason why I didn't have my better years. ... The last couple years, I didn't work hard because I still have a contract to go. Now I think I'll work hard more than any year in my life."

Puig signed a seven-year, $42 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in June 2012. He took the league by storm while propelling his team to the postseason as a rookie by hitting .319/.391/.534 with 19 home runs and 21 doubles with 42 RBI in 104 games. That not only helped him finish runner-up in National League Rookie of the Year voting, but it also helped him receive NL MVP votes despite the fact he didn't debut until June.

He followed that strong debut up with another solid performance in 2014, when he earned his first All-Star selection by hitting .296 with 16 home runs, 37 doubles, nine triples and 69 RBI.

Since then, he has not had the easiest of times in the big leagues. His average dropped to .255 in 2015 as he dealt with a hamstring injury. In 2016, he hit just .263 with 11 home runs and was ultimately demoted to Triple-A to "improve him as a player and person."

Puig responded to a tumultuous 2016 season by clubbing a combined 51 dingers over the past two seasons, including a career-high 28 in 2017. His average, though, has not topped .267 the past four years.

As his time in Los Angeles neared an end, the right-handed slugger's playing time declined against southpaws, as he managed just a .209 average against left-handers last season.

Puig should get plenty of opportunities with a Reds club that is looking for its first winning season since 2013. Whether it's in center field or left field, manager David Bell figures to pencil Puig's name into the lineup on a daily basis.

The offseason trade that sent Puig to Cincinnati provides a nice change of scenery for the impending free agent. Spacious Dodger Stadium is by no means a hitter's paradise, while Great American Ball Park has earned the nickname "Great American Small Park" for a reason.

But don't expect money to be the 28-year-old's only motivation this year.

.@YasielPuig has his sights set on the playoffs with the @Reds. #30Clubs30Days pic.twitter.com/dpWAmFAPMq

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 22, 2019

"I feel the love from the city, from the team, and the love for having me here this season," Puig told Gonzalez. "I want to do the best I can to help the team win and give the best of myself and the game to all the fans and all the city—thank the city back for having me here and giving me this opportunity to play this year, with a Cincinnati Reds uniform."

Puig recently told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon that he is willing to re-sign with the Reds, saying that if general manager Nick Krall "gives me the money, I will be here as many years as he wants." Per Gonzalez, though, Puig appears to be keeping his options open, noting his favorite color is red and his second-favorite is blue.

"Those are the two colors that I want to be in my house, in my closet—red or blue," Puig told Gonzalez. "There's a lot of red teams, there's a lot of blue teams. It's not only Cincinnati, not only Dodgers, you know? Maybe Texas, Anaheim. I don't know. There's a lot of red teams. St. Louis Cardinals—I don't know. I also can stay here. You never know."

Puig's comments about not working hard until his walk year could make teams hesitate to make a long-term commitment to the talented star. However, if he has a big year for the Reds, someone will undoubtedly pay him. After all, Manny Machado recently got $300 million despite making it clear last year that he is no "Johnny Hustle."

Yasiel Puig is a Cincinnati Red now—and loving it.

The Reds acquired Puig in a seven-player trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Dec. 21. The deal was effectively a salary dump for the Dodgers, one that moved Puig from a large-market World Series contender to a small-market club that leads Major League Baseball in losses since 2015.

But if Puig has any hard feelings, he did a dandy of a job hiding them in his first public appearance as a Red last Wednesday:

.@YasielPuig already making moves in City Hall. pic.twitter.com/pDmvI2QSqm

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) January 30, 2019

Here’s the photo you’ve been looking for. 😃 pic.twitter.com/53IcbYKwHu

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) January 30, 2019

In speaking to reporters, including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, Puig expressed optimism that he and the 2019 Reds can turn the tide and emulate the Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s. The Cuba native also insisted that he's bothered by neither the temperature nor the size of his new surroundings.

"I've been playing in a small city, a small country, almost all my life," he told reporters.

Perhaps it's best not to read too much into Puig's sunny disposition. Or the Reds' exhibition of it, for that matter. Public relations blitzes are a thing, after all. And in the dead of winter—an especially cold one in Cincinnati, to be sure—this fits the bill.

Alternatively, we could posit that Puig is the right guy in the right place at exactly the right time.

The "Wild Horse" is what legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully started calling Puig during his star-making rookie season in 2013. And, boy, did it fit.

Puig's opening statement was a debut week for the ages in which he showed that he was indeed a force of nature. He had power, speed and arm strength as good as anyone's, not to mention the personality and playing style of an anthropomorphized lightning bolt. There were bat flips and other celebratory displays aplenty.

"It's pretty amazing," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said at the time. "It's pretty special to be a part of. It just doesn't seem like he's slowing down. He's definitely changed the culture in this clubhouse."

Puig ultimately finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting on the strength of a .925 OPS and 4.7 wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference. The following year, he made the NL All-Star team and finished with an .863 OPS and 5.1 WAR.

At a certain point, however, it became difficult to focus on Puig's numbers. The same lightning-bolt nature that powered his rise to stardom also ignited controversy after controversy (h/t MLB.com's Will Leitch for compiling them) between 2013 and 2016. 

Some of those—most notably his spat with notoriously red-rear-ended San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in May 2014—weren't entirely Puig's fault. They were more like instances of MLB simply not being ready for a player unmoored from the bland culture long since established by the "unwritten rules."

It's not as easy to shift blame for the times when Puig ran afoul of his own teammates, or of former manager Don Mattingly. And following an injury-marred 2015, his offense was declining so drastically in 2016 that the Dodgers ran out of excuses to be patient with him. In August, they finally sent him down to the minors for a period meant to "improve him as a player and person."

Evidently, it worked.

Starting with his return to the Dodgers in September 2016, Puig bounced back with an .832 OPS, 55 home runs and 30 stolen bases over his next 300 games. He was last seen playing a major role in the 2018 postseason with huge homers in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series and Game 4 of the World Series.

And though he largely maintained his Wild Horse persona, Puig mostly stayed out of trouble. There was the time he sent a two-fingered message to heckling fans. And he had yet another run-in with the Giants. But nothing egregious, and he generally fit more comfortably under Dave Roberts' wing than he ever did under Mattingly's.

"He was kind of at a fork in the road in terms of which way to go," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said in a post-trade conference call with reporters. "To his credit, he put in a lot of hard work and focused on being a better teammate and performing more consistently, and he's been a big part of the success we've had in 2017 and 2018."

Meanwhile, there's been a decidedly Puig-friendly shift in MLB's culture. The league has steadily been distancing itself away from a preference for blank-faced automatons and more toward players with life in their limbs and emotions on their sleeves.

The culmination was MLB's "Let the Kids Play" promo for the 2018 postseason. Puig was prominently featured flipping his bat and wagging his tongue, all against the backdrop of Ken Griffey Jr., baseball's OG cool dude, urging baseball fans to lighten up a little:

About the only thing Puig has been missing in the last couple of seasons is a spotlight of his own. Despite the equilibrium he found following his demotion, he spent much of 2017 and 2018 as one star among many on Dodgers teams with loftier ambitions than merely being relevant.

Which brings us, finally, back to Cincinnati.

Along with fellow former Dodgers Matt Kemp and Alex Wood and other newcomers Sonny Gray and Tanner Roark, Puig is merely one piece of the Reds' impressive offseason haul. Likewise, he's sharing a roster with incumbent stars such as Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez and Scooter Gennett. Which is to say, Puig is only one reason to believe that the Reds can rise from the muck and contend in the NL Central this season.

There's nonetheless a sense that the Reds care just as much about being relevant as they do about being good. To this end, of course Puig is emerging as the point man in their hype machine for 2019. He may be one of many stars, but none of their other guys has as much potential star power as he does.

To hold up his end of the bargain, Puig will eventually have to keep backing up his eccentricity with production. It can only help that the trade to Cincinnati reunited him with hitting coach/kissing buddy Turner Ward, who had a huge hand in facilitating Puig's revival in Los Angeles.

"We are like a family. I talk to him a lot," Puig said of Ward, according to Sheldon. "He's helped me a lot to be a better person, a better baseball player."

Puig should also be boosted by his new home ballpark. He slammed 51 homers across 2017 and 2018 despite having to contend with Dodger Stadium's deep dimensions and marine layer. By contrast, Great American Ball Park is a tiny stadium with fly-ball-boosting powers:

Health permitting, the first 30-homer season of Puig's career should be within reach in 2019. Throw in everything else he can do—namely: run the bases and play Gold Glove-caliber defense—and he should at least re-emerge as an All-Star. He might even make a run at the NL MVP.

If there's a downside to Puig's outlook in Cincinnati, it's that he may only stick around for one year. He's due for free agency after 2019. If his walk year is as explosive as it should be, his market value could grow beyond Cincinnati's comfort zone.

All the same, the times should be good while they last. The Reds are getting the best possible version of Puig, and the conditions in Cincinnati are just right for everyone to notice.

             

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

The Cincinnati Reds may be entering the sweepstakes for Florida Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, Fancred's Jon Heyman reported Monday.

According to Heyman, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are in the hunt for the 2018 All-Star and a third team—the Reds—is "making a push." He added Cincinnati might be hesitant to part with their three top prospects, Hunter Greene, Nick Senzel and Taylor Trammell.

Reds are indeed very much in Realmuto mix. Cincy prospects Hunter Greene, Nick Senzel and Taylor Trammell are thought of interest to Miami, though Reds likely prefer not to include any of those 3. Possibility vet catcher Tucker Barnhart could be included in potential deal as well

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 28, 2019

The New York Mets were in hot pursuit of Realmuto earlier in the winter. According to SNY's Andy Martino, the Marlins offered to trade Realmuto for Noah Syndergaard, but the Mets turned Miami down. New York signed Wilson Ramos to a two-year, $19 million deal to eliminate the need for another veteran catcher.

The Reds have finished with a losing record in each of the last five seasons, but they're clearly itching to return to the postseason.

Cincinnati acquired Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood and Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers in December. The team landed Sonny Gray earlier this month from the New York Yankees and then negotiated a three-year, $30.5 million extension with the right-hander.

Although Tucker Barnhart was a Gold Glove winner in 2017, Realmuto would be a clear upgrade behind the plate. Realmuto hit 21 home runs, drove in 74 runs and finished with a .484 slugging percentage in 2018. His 4.8 WAR ranked first among all catchers, per FanGraphs.

Even if they were unwilling to include Greene, Senzel or Trammell, the Reds could make Jonathan India the centerpiece of the trade. India ranks 51st among MLB.com's top 100 prospects.

Throwing Barnhart into the deal would also provide the Marlins with a ready-made replacement who they might be able to flip later. Barnhart is signed through 2022, which would provide Miami with long-term cost control and plenty of time to see his trade value rise.