Indians' Yasiel Puig uses his suspension time to go to US citizenship ceremony
Cleveland Indians outfielder Yasiel Puig officially became an American citizen on Wednesday while serving his major league suspension.
Puig, 28, who defected from Cuba in 2012, posted a photo on Twitter with the following message: "Thank you God for this great opportunity to be an American citizen."
Puig dropped his appeal Monday and had begun serving his three-game suspension for his involvement in the Cincinnati Reds-Pittsburgh Pirates brawl on July 30. News of his trade from the Reds to the Indians had leaked out before the brawl began in the ninth inning.
Before being officially dealt to the Indians at the July 31 trade deadline, Puig had a .302 on-base percentage in 100 games with the Reds, a career low, but he was approaching career highs in home runs (22), RBI (61), doubles (15) and stolen bases (14).
Puig is hitting .357 with a .413 on-base percentage and .571 slugging percentage with the Indians. He's recorded 15 hits, four doubles, one triple and one home run with six RBI in 11 games.
Puig is the fourth Indians player to become a United States citizen this year, along with Carlos Santana, Óliver Pérez and Hanley Ramírez, who was waived in April.