Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers' Yasiel Puig jokes about his weight: 'I'm so fat'

Published Jan. 27, 2016 3:16 a.m. ET

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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig is working hard this offseason in hopes of assembling a resurgent season in 2016, but he enjoys a good laugh as much as anyone – even if it's about him.

Puig took a break in his offseason training to partake in a community event in the L.A. area on Tuesday, and the Los Angeles Times asked him about the oft-discussed topic of his weight while he was there:

The 24-year-old outfielder suffered injuries to both hamstrings in 2015, which limited him to only 79 games.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman believes that Puig, who was listed at 6-foot-2, 255 pounds in 2015, would be better off slimming down in order to become more durable throughout the long MLB season.

While the Cuban outfielder doesn't necessarily see a direct correlation between a player's weight and performance on the diamond, he is nonetheless heeding the advice of Friedman and others to shed some weight.

"For me, I don't see the correlation between weight and how well one plays baseball, or how that affects one or the other," Puig said through a team official serving as his translator. "However, of course, I'm taking him up on that suggestion. Everyone else has encouraged me to do the same. But really, I don't see much correlation.

"If that's their suggestions to better how I play and be a better player, then absolutely, I'm onboard with it."

When asked specifically what he's doing to get in tip-top shape during the offseason, Puig replied that he was "just training really hard."

In the 79 games in which he played last season, Puig suffered a dip at the plate, hitting .255/.322/.436 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI.

After three years in the majors, the polarizing figure averages 23 home runs and 73 RBI per 162 games with a .294/.371/.487 split.

New Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says he has yet to meet with Puig, who reportedly was occasionally at odds with former manager Don Mattingly, but that he hopes to get to know him on a personal level during spring training.

"We're still working on the complete connection," Roberts told the Times. "But I do know that he's getting prepared, and he's in good shape."

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