"He was one of the first people I [knew] here, and I was thinking just a couple of weeks ago we were having dinner in Miami: He was a very good guy and I also liked the way he played baseball, the way he treated his mom, his grandma, his teammates and other ballplayers like myself."
Puig said he enjoyed facing Fernandez. When Fernandez threw seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers in Miami earlier this month, Puig was sent up to pinch-hit. When he got in the box, Puig smiled and blew Fernandez a kiss. Fernandez, after some friendly trash talking, blew fastballs past Puig for his 14th and final strikeout of the game.