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The lone player in the New York Mets organization that has been named in the Biogenesis scandal is outfield prospect Cesar Puello. Although he is on the 40 man roster, Puello has never appeared in a big league game and is not a member of the MLB Players Union, which means it will be easier to suspend him than any other of the major league players on the list like Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Braun.
One would think that his involvement in such a major scandal and the real possibility of getting suspended would be a distraction for Puello, but that hasn’t been the case. In fact, it’s been the opposite. Not only is Puello having a resurgent season in 2013, but he’s played better as the season has gone on, and he’s continued to swing a hot bat, even after the Biogenesis scandal broke.
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Puello has 12 hits over his last five games, with five home runs and 11 RBI’s over that span. If Puello is distracted, or at all bothered, by his name being on a list of possible PED users, he isn’t showing it, which means he is either really focused on his season or really oblivious to what’s going on around him.
In any case, Puello has raised his season line to .326/.404/.603 with a career high 12 home runs and OPS that’s over 200 points higher than any he’s had in his career. If Puello keeps it up he’d certainly be in line for a promotion to triple-A at some point this season, and possibly a September call up to the big leagues as well. Of course, all of that hinges on Puello avoiding a suspension for his name being linked to the Biogenesis lab. But as we’ve seen, his link to that scandal hasn’t gotten in his way one bit.
Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google+.
