And considering the strong start Verdugo has gotten off to this season, there may not be anyone currently more fitting to wield the team’s new celebratory accessory.
Verdugo, who hit a walk-off single Tuesday, continued his torrid start offensively this season in Friday’s 5-3 win over the Brewers at American Family Field, finishing the night 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and a double.
“He’s swinging the bat well,” manager Alex Cora said. “I thought he swung the bat well in the second part of the season last year; he was getting on base and hitting homers. But I think the quality of the at-bats when he started hitting fourth last year were really good. He’s doing a lot of other stuff well [too].”
At the end of last season, Cora pinpointed Verdugo — a key part of Boston’s return from the Dodgers in the 2020 Mookie Betts trade — as someone on his roster who could take a step forward in 2023.
So far, so good. Verdugo has been one of Boston’s most encouraging developments and steadiest hitters in the early going this season. In 21 games, he holds a .341/.407/.524 slash line, with three homers and 10 RBIs.
He’s tallied at least one hit in 17 of his 21 games played, including nine multihit efforts, doing it largely out of the leadoff spot, where he’s made 14 starts.
Cora, asked whether Verdugo has met his challenge, instead pointed to the outfielder’s work in the offseason.
“I think it was more about what he needed to do, personally, to get to this level, and he cleaned up a lot of stuff in the offseason,” Cora said. “You look at his body compared to last year, it’s night and day. His routine’s a lot better. Last year, it became easy for him to hit towards the end. But I think over 162, your routines have to be more structured to be able to perform at this level. And so far? So good.”
Verdugo said he focused heavily on baseball-oriented work this winter, with a lot of movement work, rather than bodybuilder-type exercises. He said he wanted to feel lighter on his feet, and so far, it’s working.
Friday, he gave the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead with a home run off a Freddy Peralta slider in the third inning. Even more impressive was his 11-pitch battle with Peralta in the fifth — the longest at-bat of his career. After falling behind 0-2, Verdugo fouled off six of the next eight pitches he saw, also taking two out of the strike zone, to work back into the count. He roped a double into right field on the 11th pitch.
Verdugo, who fouled a number of pitches the other way, said his mentality was to see the ball deep in the zone after striking out on a slider in his first plate appearance.
“He was throwing me heaters, and I was fouling them off to the left side, in the stands,” Verdugo said. “That’s where I wanted to be. It means I was making good passes, staying inside of it. Finally I got the curveball down and in, and with that approach, I was able to stay through it, keep it fair and got a double.”
As much as he’s off to a great start, Verdugo recognizes it’s early in the season. And as much work as he’s done, he knows there is more to do.
“We’ve got to do it for 141 more games,” said Verdugo when asked whether he feels he’s met Cora’s challenge. “This is just something we’re trying to take day by day, right? I’m just trying to be a good teammate, be a good guy, go about it the right way, prepare the right way and, obviously, just trying to play the right way, man.
“I feel like when you play hard, when you run down, bust 90s and do certain things, a lot of the teams, whether it’s opposing teams, your teammates, your coaching staffs — everybody notices it, man. Fans appreciate it. Your teammates appreciate it. And that’s just something that I really wanted to challenge myself. AC challenged me with a lot of things, and I took it personally. We’re still holding on to that.”
