No, Yasiel Puig isn’t playing hockey.
But the former Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder is truly playing for a team called the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The lesser-known Leafs play in a league known as the Canadian Baseball League.
The 35-year old Puig began playing for the Maple Leafs this spring in an effort to keep his baseball journey alive.
He actually hit two home runs in his debut, showing that he might be a bit too good for the competition.
And since then, Puig hasn’t stopped hitting the ball out of the yard.
The Maple Leafs’ official social media account posted on Thursday that Puig now has 24 home runs this season.
That’s a new league record:
š YOUR NEW SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUN LEADER, YASIEL PUIG š pic.twitter.com/qW9iLtPJlx
ā Toronto Maple Leafs (@CBLMapleLeafs) September 3, 2026
Why Is Yasiel Puig In Canada?
It seems this was the only baseball opportunity available to Puig.
At the time of his signing with the Maple Leafs, he was awaiting a court hearing for obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal agents in regards to an illegal sports gambling organization.
The May hearing was delayed, and in the meantime, Puig has been playing baseball in Canada.
Puig ranks second in the CBL in batting average, hitting .410 — shoutout to Malik Williams of Kitchener for hitting .417.
The former Dodgers standout is also seocnd in RBI, with 57, behind Welland’s Ethan Mann with a whopping 71.
Puig has hit his 24 homers in 161 at bats through 46 games.
His OPS is 1.454.
It’s a long way from Puig’s peak, but in the little-known league up north, Puig is certainly good enough to shine.
Yasiel Puig Career Timeline
The Dodgers originally signed Puig out of Cuba as a young phenom, and for a time, he seemed like he’d deliver on that potential.
He had a cannon for an arm and hit .319 as a rookie and .296 in his second season. He’d never approach those heights again.
Puig did hit 28 home runs in 2017, then 23 in 2018, then 24 in 2019, but that was his final season in the majors.
He spent six years with the Dodgers before splitting 2019 between Cincinnati and Cleveland.
He finished his career with a .277 batting average and 132 home runs out of 834 career hits.
Puig didn’t sign with any team during the shortened 2020 season and never came back to MLB, also hurt by a sexual assault lawsuit filed against him late in that year.
He has played in high-level professional leagues elsewhere in the world, including both Korea and Mexico.
Evidently, he still wants to play the game, because why else would he be in Canada suiting up for a baseball team with the same name as the world famous hockey team? And for a few fans up north, it’s still possible to see Puig hit home runs.
Ex-Dodgers Star Yasiel Puig Reaches Achievement With Toronto Maple Leafs