On February 25, as the Major League Baseball teams in Arizona and Florida were preparing for the start of the spring training games, Yasiel Puig posted a video on Twitter and Instagram. The clip lasts 60 seconds and takes place in a field lined with palm trees. Puig plays ball while wearing a blue Nike T-shirt, shorts and a mask. He has hitting practice. He releases a move from the right field. Most of the filming takes place in slow motion, the camera lingering on the 6-2, 140 pound ex-All-Star who used to galvanize Dodger Stadium, a player who hasn’t worn a major league uniform since 2019.
“How was your day?” reads the accompanying text the video.
Four months earlier, a woman filed a civil suit in Los Angeles against Puig seeking compensation for sexual assault. The woman said that Puig assaulted her at the Staples Center in October 2018. Puig denied the charges.