Belated Yasiel Puig Bat-Flip Coverage Alert

Promising Dodgers outfield prospect Yasiel Puig made an impression on the Teeming Masses this spring with his bat-flipping exploits — a practice he appears to have begun (as the previous hyperlink reveals) as a member of the Cuban National Team, if not earlier.

Puig brought his enthusiasm for the craft with him to Double-A Chattanooga, for whom he homered during that club’s second game of the season — and, in the wake of which home run, he proceeded to toss his bat much closer to third base than is generally the custom. NotGraphs, as a journalistic organ with its finger on the throbbing pulse of Beauty, provided due coverage of this episode, as well.

With May having arrived, the reader might find him-/herself asking — especially if he/she has precisely the same lexicon and speaking cadence and general life concerns as the author — “With regard to Yasiel Puig, I wonder if he’s been flipping his bat at all of late?”

The answer to which question is available here in the form of words: “Yes, he has.”

And here in the form of Action Footage:

What we see here is Puig hitting a home run, on April 13th, against Cubs affiliate Tennessee. What we also see is Puig lofting his bat away from his person with what would be rendered into a play’s stage direction as a “dramatic flourish.”

The reader ought also to be informed that Puig has hit two additional home runs — on April 18th against White Sox affiliate Birmingham and April 29th against Seattle affiliate Jackson — but that, unfortunately, video of neither one is available via the usual channels.

Footage courtesy of YouTube user maryvillereb2003.