Yasiel Puig Turns Heads as Dodgers Top A's; Luke Scott Slams as Rays Rip Tigers

Players of the Day for Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Grapefruit League

Luke Scott

Luke Scott whacked a grand slam off Detroit starter, Doug Fister, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to an 11-4 victory over the Tigers.

Scott, who also had a double and scored in his only other official at-bat, raised his batting average to .375 in nine exhibition games. Scott's slam was his third homer of the exhibition season, four more of his nine hits have been doubles and he's driving in runs, with eight RBI.

After joining the Rays as a free agent from Baltimore in 2012, Scott produced a disappointing season with a .229 batting average, 14 homers and 55 RBI. He will likely fill the DH slot for the Rays should he continue his progress this Spring.

The Rays improved to 14-9 with the win and trail the Orioles by 1 1/2 games in Grapefruit League standings.

Cactus League

Yasiel Puig

There probably isn't room in the Dodger outfield (Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier) for newcomer Yasiel Puig, but the Cuban right fielder is certainly making his case.

Puig led the Dodgers to a 7-1 win over the Oakland A's Tuesday, as LA banged out 13 hits against four A's hurlers. Puig had four of them in four at-bats, and came up a double shy of hitting for the cycle.

Puig smashed his third exhibition homer, singled twice and tripled, making up for his lack of a double by stealing a base, his fourth swipe of the Spring. He drove in two and scored twice.

With three homers and 10 RBI, Puig has made an impression on LA coaches, going 23-for-46 for a stunning .500 batting average.

Whether he makes the roster or not, Puig is a player to watch as he develops. His only US baseball experience prior to this Spring is 23 minor league games.