FORT MYERS, Fla. — Alex Verdugo is betting on himself this season.
He is aware of what the Red Sox need from him, and he’s assured sufficient to let the Red Sox know what he desires in return:
An extended-term deal.
Monday was the primary full day of spring coaching, and Verdugo approached Red Sox management and made it clear he desires to remain in Boston. According to a number of sources, Verdugo advised the group, which included principal proprietor John Henry, that he’s ready to show he deserves a brand new contract.
Becoming an All-Star for the primary time is a technique he pledged himself to the brass. Adjusting his weight-reduction plan and coaching to drop weight and are available to camp lean was one other.
It’s a daring strategy, although a supply additionally famous that that is what makes Verdugo the type of participant who suits effectively in Boston. “Brave” was the phrase used to explain the interplay.
Especially for the participant Alex Cora singled out final fall because the one who must take the most important step ahead this season, and in additional methods than one.
Acquired within the Mookie Betts commerce nearly precisely three years in the past, Verdugo impressed instantly, albeit within the shortened 60-game 2020 season. He hit .308/.367/.478 over 53 video games that first yr, with 62 hits, together with 16 doubles and 6 residence runs.
Verdugo continued to carry out effectively in his first full season in Boston, although he didn’t replicate his slugging proportion over the complete 162-game slate. Playing a career-high 146 video games in 2021 (earlier excessive was 106 in 2019), he hit a strong .289/.351/.426 with 157 hits, 32 doubles, two triples, and a career-high 13 residence runs.
The Red Sox, projected to complete final of their division for the second consecutive season, not solely made a shock run to the Wild Card, however took their season all the best way to the ALCS. Over the primary 11 postseason video games of his profession, Verdugo hit .310/.383/.452 with 13 hits, three doubles, a house run, 5 walks, and three strikeouts.
Then, like lots of the 2022 Red Sox, he struggled on the plate. He didn’t precisely take a step again, however it wasn’t a step ahead, both. He set a brand new a career-high 152 video games — which additionally led the crew — however hit .280/.328/.405, struggling to hit for energy or draw walks. Though he improved his strikeout fee considerably, right down to 13.4% from 15.9% the yr earlier than, he solely drew 42 walks, after amassing 51 free passes in fewer video games in 2021.
He was within the twenty seventh percentile for stroll fee, thirty ninth for HardHit%, thirty first for Barrel fee.
His protection was a distinct story. He ranked within the thirteenth percentile in Outs Above Average and was value minus-4 defensive runs saved. His 26.8 toes/second Sprint Speed put him within the thirty seventh percentile, and he dropped to 360th in MLB, after rating three hundredth the yr earlier than.
Verdugo will likely be a free agent in 2025. He and the crew prevented arbitration this offseason, agreeing to a $6.3 million wage for the yr. Still, the Red Sox made it clear that he’d taken a step backward final season.
With the departures of Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, each of whom acquired offers longer than a decade from different groups, the Red Sox have said that they need to have interaction younger gamers earlier to seek out mutually-beneficial extensions. They’ve already accomplished so with Garrett Whitlock; the 26-year-old righty, whom they snatched from the Yankees within the Rule 5 draft, begins his four-year, $18.75 million extension (with a 2027-28 membership choice), this season.
Aside from Masataka Yoshida, the Japanese star who signed a five-year contract with the Red Sox this winter, there’s room within the outfield to retain Verdugo. Jarren Duran’s future is unclear, whereas Adam Duvall and Kiké Hernández are every signed for one yr, with the latter shifting to the infield whereas Trevor Story rehabs after UCL surgical procedure. Rob Refsnyder isn’t an on a regular basis participant, and Christian Arroyo will likely be overlaying loads of second base this season. If ever there was a time for Verdugo to show himself, it’s now.
When Cora singled Verdugo out in October, he expounded, “Yeah, he hit for average, but he can be a lot better baserunning, defensively.”
The robust love “pissed me off,” Verdugo stated this week, “But everything pisses me off.” Still, he admitted, “They had reasons to talk, right?”
Turning 27 in May, and coming into his seventh yr within the majors, “He’s getting to that area in his career that’s, ‘Who is he gonna be?’” Cora questioned final fall.
On the primary day of full-squad exercises, Verdugo made it clear he’s able to reply that query. And if he does, he’d just like the Red Sox to reply again.
Source: www.bostonherald.com