It has been a horrific second half for New York Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo, and one could imagine that Jasson Dominguez will soon take over as the everyday left fielder when the rosters expand in September. Despite that, Verdugo showed some signs of life at the plate in Saturday’s 9-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Alex Verdugo had some good swings Saturday against the Rockies
Verdugo went 1-for-3 in the game with a walk and hit his first home run since July 6, a towering shot into the Yankees bullpen in the bottom of the fourth inning. He also put some solid swings on the balls he put in play, with each one having an exit velocity of at least 90 MPH, which is an encouraging sign given the dreadful slump he has been in.
Prior to the home run, Verdugo had been in an 0-for-21 slide and saw him drop down in the batting order to the No. 8 spot. Entering Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies, the outfielder is batting .157 with an OPS of .490 in the month of August. Since June 15, Verdugo ranks last out of all MLB hitters in OPS and has the second-lowest batting average. His wRC+ in that same span is 49, the third-worst in all of baseball, according to Fangraphs.
The Yankees have badly needed Verdugo to contribute over the past several months, as Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have carried the load of the team’s offensive output for the majority of the second half. The team has tried placing Verdugo in various areas of the lineup, with the bulk of his workload coming from the cleanup and leadoff spots, but long-term positive results have yet to show.
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Verdugo will likely lose his playing time to Jasson Dominguez
At this point, it is pretty clear that Verdugo will lose a significant chunk of playing time to Dominguez as soon as the rosters expand. However, if he can continue to show signs of ending the treacherous slump, the hope is that he can be a reliable bench piece down the stretch.
It hasn’t been the season Verdugo hoped to have in his first year in pinstripes, but he will look to finish the year strong and hopefully bring impactful play in the final month of the season.
