Puk earned his first hold of spring in Tuesday's 5-4 Cactus League victory over the Indians by striking out the side in his one inning.
The towering lefty couldn't have made a splashier debut, setting down Erik Kratz, Lonnie Chisenhall and Abraham Almonte with a four-pitch arsenal in the sixth. Puk's flawless performance was essentially an extension of the superb work that he's put in during bullpen and batting practice sessions during his first exposure to a major league camp. Manager Bob Melvin seemed especially impressed with the way his young pitcher deployed one particular pitch in his repertoire. "As impressive as anything was his changeup," Melvin said. "He had good life on his fastball, but something we've been talking about is using his changeup and using it effectively, and every changeup he threw ended up being a good one. You take the mound for the first time in a spring training game, expect to have some nerves and so forth, and he didn't."