Though the Red Sox have been one of baseball’s higher scoring teams to start the season, quite a few regulars have gotten off to slow starts. Through Tuesday five of the club’s everyday players were hitting below .200 and over the past two weeks the lineup as a whole has collectively struggled.
One thing you won’t hear any complaints about, however, is the job Alex Verdugo has done as the club’s leadoff hitter.
Verdugo has gotten off to a terrific start, batting a team-high .348 with a career-best .416 on-base percentage through Boston’s first 18 games. He came up big again in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins, going 3 for 5 with a walk, a double, a run scored and the walk-off single down the right field line to clinch the wild Red Sox victory.
All told, he’s been everything the Red Sox could have hoped for.
“He’s a different guy,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He’s moving well, putting good at bats, hitting the ball hard, running hard, playing good defense, his arm is playing again.
“This is the guy people envisioned a few years ago,” he continued. “Hopefully this can continue this season and help us win a lot of games.”
Cora said last year Verdugo fell into a similar trap as Andrew Benintendi in 2019, focusing on hitting for power at the expense of his natural ability to spray line drives to all fields. Now Verdugo is back to being the best version of himself, and the 26-year-old outfielder said he feels his skillset meshes well with the responsibilities that traditionally come with hitting leadoff.
“I’ve hit leadoff before so I already understood what needed to be done and what it takes,” said Verdugo, who has started 46 games at leadoff in his career and 12 of 18 games this season. “I feel like when you’re hitting you don’t really think about it, when you’re making it a big deal that’s when it becomes ‘oh should I be taking pitches, should I be swinging first pitch?’ For me, I go up there and try to have a good at bat.”
One thing that’s also helped, Verdugo said, is the experience of playing in the World Baseball Classic. Traditionally Verdugo said he’s been prone to slow starts, but by playing high-pressure baseball during Team Mexico’s run to the semifinals he was able to work through many of his usual early-season issues.
Even though he hit .130 in the tournament, he felt like he was able to gain some momentum heading into the regular season.
“I felt like when the team needed me with a good at bat, a clutch walk, a clutch hit, something to tie the game or get us closer or put us ahead, I kind of came through in that spot and that gave me some reassurance,” Verdugo said. “I felt like that was maybe my slow start in-season, I got it out of the way there, so now it’s like in-season I was able to get back, get my body right, get my mind right and get my swing right and I just feel like it’s kind of taking off right now.”
Though it’s still early, Verdugo has so far answered the challenge Cora issued him at the end of last season to take the next step as a ballplayer. He’s not only been one of Boston’s top all-around position players, but Cora said he’s also made impressive strides in the clubhouse.
“He’s been great,” Cora said. “Talking about the pitchers, watching videos and helping Casas out and everybody else, all the lefties.
“He’s becoming a guy,” he added, “and we’re very proud of that.”