NEW YORK — Not only did Ichiro Suzuki collect the Marlins’ first hit on Monday night, the 42-year-old outfielder moved into a tie with Wade Boggs on MLB’s all-time list. Suzuki would pass Boggs with a double in the eighth, scoring the game’s first run.
“I definitely think he has the mental toughness to play baseball. I don’t know if he’s going to realize how much of a grind the Minor Leagues are if he ever gets there.”
“It’s been impressive to see how [Uehara] has handled the volume with three times on the mound and the intensity to his bullpens and the BP,” Farrell said. “To his credit, he’s worked his tail off. He’s gone about this fairly rapidly.”
Uehara has appeared in 39 games this season and has a 4.50 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 36 innings.
“I would have preferred to have been traded to another team and not go to Triple A, but here I am working,” Puig said. “The guys here have received me well and I am thankful for that, and I hope to leave here soon wherever that may be.”
Any team that picks him off waivers could then negotiate a trade with the Dodgers. He has performed well and currently has a .375 average, helping to raise his previously diminished trade value.
A reflective Puig said that adapting to the rules of a major league clubhouse since his breakout season in 2013 contributed to his struggles both on and off the field.
“They wanted to change so many things about me that I felt ‘switched off,’ ” Puig said. “I don’t feel like the player I was in 2013, but I know I have to change the things that I was doing.”
He said he has learned humility during his three-week stint in the minor leagues, despite stirring up controversy after social media posts emerged of him partying with his new teammates after a loss.
“It’s the hand-eye coordination and it’s the swing, but it’s also the pitch recognition,” Zunino said. “It’s all that small stuff that you only get with repetition.
“Obviously athletically and physically, he’s through the roof and probably in much better shape than a lot of guys playing now, but it’s the small stuff — the timing, the vision, things like that — that will be the biggest adjustment.”