Yasiel Puig to face news conference before debut in Oklahoma City

With Yasiel Puig on the eve of playing the first home game of his triple-A stay, the Dodgers’ Oklahoma City affiliate announced that Puig would hold an informal press conference Friday.

Puig played his first three games for Oklahoma City on the road. Alex Freedman, the Oklahoma City director of media relations, said the team has been “swamped” with requests from the local media to interview Puig.

The decision to limit Puig’s availability to one media session before his Oklahoma City debut was made in consultation with the Dodgers, Freedman said, but was not mandated by them or by Puig’s representatives.

CLARIFICATION: The Oklahoma City team made a follow-up announcement that Puig would hold his only press conference on Friday but would be available in the clubhouse “like any other player.”

The Dodgers have not said when — or if — they would bring Puig back to Los Angeles. They tried to trade him last month and remain interested in doing so, albeit not at a giveaway price.

The Dodgers demoted Puig last week, after replacing him in right field by trading for Josh Reddick. He got two hits and drove in three runs in his first game, although he was the last player to report to the ballpark that day.

After his second game, he posted the party videos that quickly went viral on the Internet and drew a mild rebuke from the Dodgers.

In his third game — and in his first at-bat since the videos became a momentary sensation — he hit a home run. In 11 at-bats with Oklahoma City, he has four hits, and he has driven in five runs. He has walked twice and struck out once.

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