Yasiel Puig may be with a new team soon.
The 28-year-old outfielder is “a particularly strong candidate to be moved” by the Reds before the July 31 trade deadline, according to a report from The Athletic, which cited unidentified league sources.
Puig is slashing .262/.311/.496 with 22 home runs and 59 RBIs in 94 games with Cincinnati this season. He has also scored 49 runs and stolen 13 bases.
“When I’m going into each AB, (I’m) looking for something I can hit, something in the zone that I can make contact (with),” Puig said about his success this season, via Cincinnati.com. “In the first couple of weeks, I go into there to try to get hits and swing at every ball. Now, I slowed down myself, try to put the ball in play and that’s helped me out a lot.”
Puig spent the first six years of his MLB career with the Dodgers before he was sent to the Reds in a December trade.
Reds manager David Bell praised Puig’s performance with the team so far.
“It’s been impressive,” Bell said. “It doesn’t really feel like it’s going away. I think he really made some good adjustments. He’s on time with the fastball and it’s allowing him more time to recognize the off-speed pitches. He’s hitting the ball hard, really hard, consistently. He’s been hot, but I think he worked hard to get to the point he’s gotten and hopefully, he can keep that going.”
President of baseball operations Dick Williams said at the All-Star break the Reds were planning to be buyers this month, but they’re just 3-5 in their last eight games, which could change that thinking, according to The Athletic.
The Reds entered Wednesday 6 1/2 games out of the second National League wild-card spot with a 46-53 record.