On Feb. 25, as Major League Baseball teams in Arizona and Florida prepared for spring training games to begin, Yasiel Puig posted a video to Twitter and Instagram. The clip lasts 60 seconds and takes place on a field lined by palm trees. Puig plays catch while wearing a blue Nike T-shirt, shorts and a mask. He takes batting practice. He unleashes a throw from right field. Most of the footage unfolds in slow motion, the camera lingering on the 6-2, 240-pound former All-Star who used to galvanize Dodger Stadium, a player who has not worn a big-league uniform since 2019.
“How was your day?” reads the text accompanying the video.
Four months earlier, a woman filed a civil suit in Los Angeles against Puig seeking damages for sexual battery. The woman said Puig assaulted her at the Staples Center in October 2018. Puig has denied the allegations.
