The New York Yankees signaled their trust in outfielder Alex Verdugo when making their September call-ups, but it didn't pay off during Wednesday night's 10-6 loss to the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.
Verdugo brought his latest form of backlash upon himself when, in the top of the fifth inning, the 28-year-old rolled over a ground ball to second base, and rather than running out the play, Verdugo chose to jog. Considering New York rewarded Verdugo by not promoting outfielder Jasson Domínguez -- the organization's No. 1 prospect -- from Triple-A, it's a shockingly bad look for Verdugo to punt on an opportunity to show some hustle, especially considering the statistical production from him has been mediocre. Nevertheless, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone took a player's manager's approach and stood in defense of Verdugo when asked to address the too-cool trot to first base.
"He's OK. He's beat up. He's playing his ass off," Boone said, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. "He picks his spots to where --when he needs to, he beats out the force play, beats out a double play, gets the infield hit. Sometimes I wish it would look a little better on certain ones, but when he hits the one-hopper to the second baseman and he's got it, I get the look. But I don't have any issue with how hard he's playing the game."
New York's entered dicey territory, benefitting from an underperforming American League East with expectations of a deep playoff run stuck to the team like glue. Verdugo joined the program through a rare offseason trade with the rival Boston Red Sox, slating the left-hander to join studs Aaron Judge and Juan Soto while tasked with (finally) breaking out for a postseason contender. That didn't happen. Verdugo directed blame toward his batting gloves, slashed just .204/.269/.280 in August (24 games), and now remains the subject of easy blame for a vital month of September to end 2024.
So far, Verdugo has hit a modest .235 with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs in 134 games debuting in The Bronx. That constant level of average-level production from an eight-year veteran won't cut it once the lights shine their brightest at Yankee Stadium and the postseason commences. Then again, perhaps Verdugo and the Yankees will have to learn the hard way while Domínguez -- healthy and ready -- remains available.
The Yankees have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games, losing the top spot in the AL East to the Baltimore Orioles in a head-to-head race for the division crown.
