Former Dodgers Phenom Now Turning Heads in Korea

   

Former Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Yasiel Puig isn't done just yet.

Former Dodgers Phenom Now Turning Heads in Korea - Athlon Sports

Nearly six years removed from his last MLB at-bat, the 34-year-old Puig is still going. We don't fault any baseball fans now learning the 2014 All-Star plays for the KBO's Kiwoom Heroes.

In fact, they can thank Puig himself for trying to educate those who forgot all about him. Puig posted a video Friday morning of him crushing a walk-off single against the KT Wiz.

"Sometimes as a man or an athlete, you struggle and you are in your own head," Puig wrote on X. "Your own thoughts get so loud that you can hear nothing else."

Sometimes as a man or an athlete, you struggle and you are in your own head. Your own thoughts get so loud that you can hear nothing else. This is when l ask God to see me throughbecause as imperfect as I am I try to remember I was also made in His image. I kneel down to Him in…

Puig owns a .218 average with three home runs, 11 RBI, and a .644 OPS across 97 plate appearances. He previously played in the KBO during the 2022 season, mashing 21 home runs with a .841 OPS for the Kiwoom Heroes.

Of course, most baseball fans remember Puig as the energetic outfielder who burst onto the scene for the Dodgers in 2013. Puig hit .305 with 35 home runs, 111 RBI, and a .888 OPS over his first two years, helping begin the Dodgers' modern stretch of 11 NL West titles in 12 seasons.

Puig tallied 9.6 bWAR during that time and emerged as one of baseball's premier young superstars. He even appeared on the cover of Sony's "MLB 15 The Show" ahead of the 2015 campaign.

However, Puig never quite regained his old form and only totaled 8.2 WAR over the next four years. He battled injuries, clashed with management, and eventually lost the Dodgers' fanbase.

Puig at least made his final days with the Dodgers count, hitting a three-run homer off Boston Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez in Game 4 of the 2018 World Series.

The Dodgers traded Puig to the Cincinnati Reds in December 2018, who subsequently traded him to the Cleveland Guardians less than eight months later. He's since bounced around the world, notably playing in Korea, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.

We'll see if he ever makes it back to the majors, though we're understandably skeptical given how long it's been.