Cuban baseball player Yasiel Puig wins "Defensive Player of the Year" award in Mexico

November 14, 2021

Yasiel Puig was chosen by the specialized press; it is the first year that effectiveness and spectacular defensive plays are recognized

Cuban Yasiel Puig, who played in the Major Leagues for seven years, won the "Defensive Player of the Year" award in the 2021 season of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) for his performance with El Águila de Veracruz.

"Puig was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year by the specialized press and personnel from the 18 LMB clubs. This is the first year that this recognition is given to whoever stood out in the quantitative (effectiveness) and qualitative (spectacularity and complex defensive plays) aspects of defense," the league noted on Wednesday in a press release.

Puig, a right fielder, made his debut this season in Mexican baseball with Veracruz, in which he had a defensive percentage of 1.000, committing no errors in 102 chances in 62 games and 483 and two-thirds innings in the field.

Furthermore, the native of Cienfuegos, in southern Cuba, averaged 1.65 outs per game for El Águila, had nine assists and participated in one double play.

Puig's defensive contribution, who had a batting average of .312 in the LMB, helped Veracruz finish in fourth place in the southern zone and reach the second round of the postseason, where they were eliminated by the Diablos Rojos del México.

Puig signed with Veracruz after failing to find a spot in the Major Leagues, in which in seven years he was called once to the All-Star Game and played in a World Series in 2018 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cuban remained six years with the Los Angeles team, the squad in which he reached his peak performance, but after several cases of misconduct he left in 2018.

Puig played in 2019 for two teams, the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians, his last team in the top baseball league in the world.

In 2021, Puig tried to land with a Major League team, but his bad reputation and an accusation of sexual assault kept him out of the Big Show.

The 30-year-old player was one of the former Major Leaguers who participated in the 2021 LMB season. Among the standout names are Dominican Fernando Rodney, champion with the Toros de Tijuana, and Mexican Adrián González, with the Mariachis de Guadalajara.