Yasiel Puig heads to Jersey to promote the game on MLB Network

Reporting from New York —  Yasiel Puig did not linger at Citi Field on Friday night. After setting a new career-high with his 20th home run this season, Puig took a car across the Hudson River to Secaucus, N.J., and stopped by MLB Network’s studios to appear as a guest on a live broadcast.

The field trip amused manager Dave Roberts.

“Yasiel is a big advocate of Major League Baseball,” Roberts said before Saturday’s game against the Mets. “People gravitate toward him …. Obviously, there’s a lot worse things a player could be doing in New York City.”

It was only a year ago that Puig wasn’t even in the majors. The Dodgers optioned him to triple-A Oklahoma City after the trade deadline in 2016 after being unable to swing a trade to get him out of Los Angeles. Puig spent a month in the minors before rejoining the team as a bench player in September and October.

Puig responded to the demotion with some of his best baseball since his first two seasons in the majors. He entered Saturday’s game with an .806 on-base plus slugging percentage, his best since 2014. Roberts believes Puig deserves a Gold Glove for his play in right field.

“He’s continuing to grow,” Roberts said. “I think the Dodgers have won his heart over. I think he’s starting to understand that the most important thing is to win baseball games for the Dodgers, and to help the Dodgers win. And it’s not about him. And I think I can say that about every one of our guys.”

Taylor rebounds from foul-ball scare

Chris Taylor was removed from Friday’s game as a precaution after fouling a pitch off his knee midway through the game. Taylor went down in pain and stayed in the game for a few innings before Roberts took him out.

“I just had some dead-leg,” Taylor said. “It was sore.”

Taylor was one of three Dodgers, including Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager, to foul a cutter from Mets starter Jacob deGrom off his back leg on Friday.

Wood to check fatigue in bullpen session

Alex Wood will throw a bullpen session on Sunday to gauge his readiness for a start next week against Arizona. Wood admitted some fatigue after his outing on Thursday in Atlanta. If Wood is cleared to pitch, he would start on Wednesday. Kenta Maeda is scheduled for Tuesday and Yu Darvish is slated for Thursday.

The Dodgers are not worried about Wood harboring an injury. But Roberts mentioned how a tired pitcher might put himself at risk.

“In some case, when you’re talking fatigue, to put a pitcher or a player in harm’s way, you want to guard against that,” Roberts said.

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes