Don’t give up on Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo just yet.
In just mere hours, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers will square off for Game 1 of the 2024 World Series at Dodger Stadium. The most iconic sports franchises will meet in the Fall Classic for the twelfth time and the first since 1981. Both squads head into this series led by the presumed league MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, making for the series of a millennium.
A matchup of this magnitude forms an amalgam of compelling storylines, some of which may be overlooked when considering the heavyweight main event. Scanning a bit further down the Yankee batting order, though, outfielder Alex Verdugo has a major stake in this series dating back to the night he was drafted.
After an underwhelming first year in pinstripes, Verdugo could be the key to taking down his former team.
Verdugo’s time in Los Angeles ended on a sour note
The Dodgers drafted Verdugo in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft, and he eventually made his major league debut with the club in September 2017. After spending much of the following season in the minor leagues, the Tucson, Arizona native made his first Opening Day Roster in 2019.
The lefty had an incredible 2019 campaign with the Dodgers, slashing .294/.342/.475 with 12 home runs across 106 games. Unfortunately, the outfielder suffered a back injury toward the end of the season that kept him sidelined for the Postseason, where the 106-win Dodgers were ultimately eliminated in the NLDS by the Juan Soto-led Washington Nationals, who went on to win the whole thing.
Expectations were that the up-and-coming 23-year-old would recover and become a key contributor for the Dodgers the next season. However, plans suddenly shifted in February 2020 when the Dodgers acquired superstar Mookie Betts from the Red Sox and sent Verdugo to Boston.
Verdugo loved the organization – as well as life in Los Angeles – and the team’s decision to trade him didn’t sit right with him.
“I was upset. I was pretty clear I didn’t want to go anywhere,” Verdugo recalled yesterday. “I understood it from a business aspect and all that, but I was pretty hurt by it.”
This trade sparked a fire within Verdugo, motivated to show his former team that they made a mistake. In some ways, he did just that. The outfielder commanded the plate, batting .308 with a .845 OPS and six homers in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Despite having one of the best – albeit shortened – seasons of his career, Verdugo’s efforts to prove his former team wrong were squashed when the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series. Ahead of the next season, Verdugo reflected on how it felt to watch the Dodgers win it all.
“I mean, I’m happy for the guys. You know what I mean? It’s a bittersweet moment, because at the same time, I want that ring,” Verdugo said. “I want to be a champion.”
Verdugo played the next three years in Boston, where the closest he got to a trophy was a Golden Glove nomination last season. However, light appeared at the end of the tunnel when he was traded to New York. Rounding out the star-studded outfield of Judge and the soon-to-be-acquired Soto, the outfielder saw a chance to finally win his ring.
Verdugo struggled during first year in pinstripes
Verdugo had an up-and-down 2024 season, unfortunately, with more valleys than hills. He slashed just .233/.291/.356, all of which were the worst marks of his career since his rookie season.
As top Yankee prospect Jasson Dominguez loomed in the minor leagues, Verdugo received relentless boos from the Yankee faithful, calling for him to be benched in place of the 21-year-old prospect.
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Eventually, that fateful day came in September when Dominguez was called back up to the major league roster. When Verdugo was asked about his expected role going forward, he reiterated his main objective.
“He’s going to come up here, he’s gonna play, he’s gonna help this team win,” Verdugo told Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media. “Whatever that means, that means, right? If I lose a little bit of playing time, I lose a little bit of playing time. At the end of the day, I want to win. The only thing that matters is getting to the playoffs and winning there.”
Verdugo has the tools to be a key contributor in the World Series
When the time came for the Yankees to choose their postseason left fielder, the decision was a no-brainer. Verdugo had proved he could perform in October, slashing .310/.383/.835 with 13 hits and six RBIs during his 2019 run with the Red Sox.
Unfortunately, Verdugo’s regular season struggles have persisted and he’s amassed just a .194 average in the Yankees’ first two series against the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians. However, he’s shown glimpses of promise that his October moment is on the horizon.
In Game 1 of the ALDS against Kansas City, the lefty picked up two hits in three at-bats, the second of which was a seventh-inning single that scored the game-winning run.
Speaking on the hit after the game, Verdugo emphasized that he doesn’t want to let his regular season struggles define his season.
“For me, it was just really leaning on my guys in the clubhouse,” Verdugo said. “They all got my back. They all know what kind of player I am and how I played throughout my whole career and just kept telling me, man, don’t let this season or this little glimpse make your whole year. You can make up for a lot of things in the playoffs.”
As Verdugo heads back to Dodger Stadium for the first time since being traded, he looks to continue battering the teams that sent him away. In his first game back at Fenway, Verdugo had potentially his best game all season, going 3-5 with a two-run homer and four RBIs.
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With a win-first mentality and a chip on his shoulder, Verdugo enters Dodger Stadium looking to be received just like he was at Fenway – “like a Yankee.”