Koufax Suggests Puig Add "Funda-" To "Mental"

While being appreciative of Yasiel Puig's talent, Dodger great Sandy Koufax diplomatically added that phenom Yasiel Puig could stand to work on his basic skills, to better hone his natural talent:

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax, making his first appearance of the spring at the Los Angeles Dodgers' training facility, said he enjoyed watching Yasiel Puig energize the team last summer but would like to see the talented outfielder improve his fundamentals.

"If the showmanship doesn't involve bad decisions, it's fine," Koufax said. "I think people love it. You've got a great arm, you want to show it off, but you'd like to see it go to the right place all the time.

"He's young. He hasn't played [much]. I think the biggest thing is he hasn't played against competition as good as he is, so you're always able to have your physical ability make up for whatever else you did. He's learning. I'm sure it's going to happen. There's too much talent not to."

In discussing Puig's powerful arm, some people have compared him to Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente, among others. But Koufax said he is not willing to go there. Not yet anyway.

"Clemente had a great arm. [Willie] Mays had a good arm, but Mays never missed the cutoff man, never threw to the wrong base," Koufax said. "I'm not sure Roberto did either, but there have been a lot of good arms in baseball. I'm not comparing [Puig] to Clemente after two or three months in the big leagues."

Still a lot of upside with this Puig kid. Let's see how 2014 unfolds.

UPDATE 7:09p: Dylan Hernandez of the LAT had the same Koufax interview, and got an entirely different spin (possibly because his last Koufax quote has some minor differences (underlining mine):

PHOENIX — Sandy Koufax defended Yasiel Puig’s style of play, saying he doesn’t mind Puig’s theatrics so long as they don’t result in mistakes.

“If the showmanship doesn’t involve bad decisions, yeah, it’s fine,” Koufax said. “People love it.”

But Koufax also said he would like to see the 23-year-old outfielder learn the finer points of the game.

“You have a great arm, you want to show it off, but I’d like to see him throw it to the right place all the time,” Koufax said. “He’s young. The biggest thing is he’s not played against competition as good as he is. So you’re always able to have your physical ability make up for whatever else you do. He’s learning. I’m sure it’s going to happen. He has too much talent.”

Funny how those Koufax quotes turned out quite differently!