Puk, who fired a scoreless first inning during which he issued a walk and recorded a strikeout in Saturday's 12-2 Cactus League loss to the Cubs, impressed with his full repertoire of pitches, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "The changeup that he didn't have last year, that's what is going to make him who he is," manager Bob Melvin said. "His fastball even plays up because of it. He looked really good."
The towering left-hander threw 13 pitches overall during the outing, nine of which found the strike zone. His most memorable moment came when he mowed down Kris Bryant on three pitches, flummoxing the Cubs slugger with an 87 mph slider after blowing a pair of fastballs clocked in the mid-90s past him. Outside of a two-out walk to Javier Baez, Puk was pleased with his performance, as well as the fact he's now free to deploy his curveball and changeup after limiting his use of breaking pitches last season to reduce strain on his surgically repaired elbow.