Red Sox: Alex Verdugo found his mojo and the AL East should be worried

Alex Verdugo is driving the Red Sox offense

Thank everything holy that the Red Sox get to leave Toronto and won’t have to see The Six again until September. A trip that at one point should’ve been another series win for Boston turned into a nightmare as the fellas came close to getting swept right before our eyes. But let’s take a look at the month as a whole, which was pretty good for the team, and more importantly, it was pretty good for Alex Verdugo.

Dugie has had his moments this season where he’s been the prince of the team and others where he’s been the pauper. Big plays in the field and massive at-bats have come a plenty for the young outfielder but he hasn’t quite put it all together to solve the puzzle. Then the calendar flipped to June and maybe that sweet summer air woke something up in Alex, but he was an absolute monster this past month.

To put things into perspective, in April he finished the month with a .238/.278/.375 line with 3 homers,13 RBI, and 5 runs. For May, it was a .219/.250/.302 with 11 RBI and 11 runs. Now it’s time for June, and boy what a difference it was as he finished with a .337/.400/.505, 3 homers, 17 runs, and 19 RBI. It was as if a switch flipped and he became Superman for this Red Sox side. Considering where the schedule is going in the coming weeks he couldn’t be getting hot at a more perfect time.

For the Red Sox to continue this push toward the postseason they’ll need Verdugo to stay as hot as he can be. The big three have been carrying a lot of the load this season but this surge that has seen Boston takeover the Wild Card has been due to the rest of the lineup contributing on a nightly basis. Dugie has been playing a big part in that action and it seems like more often than not he’s been tapping into that clutch gene of his and coming through in the big moments.

The fellas have the night off tonight and are making their way to the Windy City for a trio against the Cubs. As we all know, the Cubbies aren’t exactly world-beaters so this should offer the Sox a chance to reset things, rest some guys, and get everyone in the groove for the AL East Gauntlet that’s coming. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Verdugo possibly get an extra day off in this series just to make sure he’s ready to go for when we need him the most.

Last night may have been the perfect encapsulation of how this past month has gone for Alex. He made a fantastic sliding catch to continue his push for a Gold Glove but it was his bat that really put the punctuation on his June. Had he not come through at the dish last night I think Red Sox Nation would’ve been in a much more “doom and gloom,” mindset today.

He went 2-4 at the plate but those two hits led to four runs crossing the plate, which ultimately was what sealed the game for Boston. A two-run moonshot gave the Sox an early lead and his extra-inning two-run double extended their lead to 6-3. We should all be thanking Dugie today for that two-bagger since it wound up giving the team just enough breathing room to eke out the win. It isn’t lost on Alex how this past month has gone for him and he feeling it, and the AL East should be worried.

"“I feel locked in right now,” said Verdugo, who hit .337 with 10 extra-base hits in June. “I like where my head’s at, my swing. I like what I’m doing with the ball, going from the left-field line to the right-field line. I’m going to keep going with that approach, hitting the ball hard.”"

We’ve talked about it at length as many others have that cover the team, when players outside of the big three are cooking, the team is cooking. Having Verdugo contributing at the dish on a nightly basis means those other guys can take a breath with the pressure lifted and then the real fireworks start to fly. Alex is easily one of the most charismatic guys on this roster and you can tell when he’s in a good mood and vibing everyone else follows.

The Red Sox have a hell of a road not only leading to the All-Star break but also coming out of it. They’re going to need everyone from the top of the lineup to the very bottom to chip in and contribute to the big picture. These next four weeks very well could decide how this season is going to end for Boston and that’s not being dramatic. Luckily for us, we’ve got Dugie and the man with the big gold chain is white-hot right now and that’s bad news for the rest of the division.