Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo earns his spot
I think from the start of the season right down to the final out Alex Verdugo was my favorite Red Sox player to watch in 2020. It didn’t matter if he was in the field, the batter’s box, or in the dugout he brought the energy.
Verdugo came to the team via the vaunted Mookie Betts trade with the Dodgers and had a cloud over his head. A sorted past and history of not always giving it his all gave Sox fans some trepidation about his joining the team, but that wouldn’t last.
As if we haven’t seen it plenty of times before, a change of scenery can work wonders for a player’s career. Though he wasn’t a disappointment with LA, we had heard stories of him not always putting in a max effort. Well, I don’t know about you, but I never saw any of that in Boston. From the moment he put on that Red Sox uniform he was red-lining it and doing whatever he could to try and get this team into a winning position.
Whether it was going for the extra base even if the moment didn’t necessarily warrant it, diving for any and every flyball, or talking smack to umpires, Dugie did it all. His .308/.367/.478/.844 slash was one of the best on the team while adding in 6 homers and 15 RBI. Oh yeah, he was a perfect 4-0 in regards to swiping bags.
Remember that night against Toronto? The one where he launched two bombs out of Fenway Park and then almost launched himself into the bullpen to rob the Jays in the ninth? That’s the kind of thing that Alexer Verdugo brings to the table. He’s high energy and will always play as if his next at-bat can win the game or the next flyball he misses could lose it.
That’s why he made my list of good things that happened for the Red Sox in 2020, and I can’t wait to see what he does in 2021.