Even in a sleepy Red Sox season with no fans in the stands, Alex Verdugo has constantly brought energy to Fenway Park this summer. One of the next steps in the career progression of Boston’s new outfielder will be to learn how best to harness that passion.
Verdugo, who was the centerpiece of Sox' return in the February deal that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, has been one of the few bright spots for Boston so far this season. The 24-year-old is hitting .311 with six homers and an .875 OPS while dazzling defensively, consistently showing off his arm with seven outfield assists.
In empty stadiums, it’s pretty easy to find out just how Verdugo feels about the way he’s playing. After big catches and clutch hits, everyone in the ballpark can hear his loud celebrations. After a tough out at the plate, it’s common to hear some four-letter words echo through the stadium.
In normal times, Verdugo’s outbursts -- both positive and negative -- would be hard to hear with thousands of screaming fans in the crowd. But in 2020, there’s no way to hide them.
“If you want to yell, you yell in your glove or do something like that,” Verdugo said. “Nobody really hears it. Out here with no fans and no noise, they hear it. I try to go a little bit further away and not be as loud to the guys.”
Verdugo knows, even this early in his career, that he needs to be smarter about when he decides to show emotion. If he hits a homer late in a blowout loss, his teammates might not appreciate it. Ditto if the team’s winning and he swears loudly after an out.
“You’ve got to pick your spots,” he said. “You’ve got to learn, if you do want to have a blowup, maybe go into the tunnel. Go away from the guys a little bit and get your anger out there. Once that’s gone, come back on the field and it’s like a flush. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. Either you fully wipe it or you keep it in the back of your mind and use it and feast off of it. That’s what I do.”
Red Sox fans haven’t had much to cheer about this season, considering their team is 17-31 and has been out of the playoff hunt since the first week of the season. But Verdugo -- though he hates the comparison -- is doing an admirable job of filling in for Betts and looks like he’ll be a cornerstone of Boston’s outfield for years to come.
Verdugo credits his health (he hasn’t been limited at all by the stress fracture in his back he suffered last summer) and the opportunity to be an everyday player for his breakthrough season. Some players take a while to adjust to playing in Boston, but Verdugo has found success from the start.
“It’s just who I am as a person,” he said. “I don’t back down from a challenge. I don’t shy away from the big moment. I came from the Dodgers, and we were already expected to win. There’s a lot of pressure over there just to be good and contribute right away. It didn’t matter if you’re a rookie or not, they expect you to be a professional and to go about your business the right way.”
Though Verdugo knows fans watching on TV are beginning to admire his game, he misses the opportunity to interact with them in person. He’s looking forward to being cheered on by the home crowd at Fenway but also can’t wait for the opportunity to once again go back-and-forth with opposing fans on the road.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the home team or away team,” he said. “Being on the road, playing with all the road fans, you hear everything. They talk, they talk their smack. I love it. I feast off of it. I kind of jaw back with them in an all-well meaning way. I like to have a good time.
“It would be nice to hear people screaming when you’re coming up to the plate or if you make a good play,” he added. “It’s just nice to hear genuine reactions on the spot. As professionals, we expect to go out there and perform and make plays or get the job done, so when we do it, we don’t really want to show too much emotion because you don’t want to get too high or down. The fans, that’s what they live for. They want to see it. I do miss the interactions with them and how they make you feel.”
No matter if there are fans in the stands or not, Verdugo is still going to be one of the most fiery players on the field. Throughout his young career, Verdugo has always tried to use his emotions to his advantage.
“I’m a very fired up person,” he said. “I play with a lot of passion. I have a lot of emotions. For me, I like showing them. I’m the type of person, I need to get them out and I feed off of it. I’m not the type of person that if I get angry, I make errors or I’m lazy. I get angry, and I feed off off it. I have this fire that starts burning.”
Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke has had to get to know Verdugo on the fly, as the outfielder spent most of spring training with the team’s medical department as he worked his way back from the back injury. Over the last two months, Roenicke has given Verdugo ample opportunities to showcase his skills, moving him from platooning to a starting role early in the season and installing him as Boston’s leadoff hitter for most of the year.
“I love his intensity,” Roenicke said. "Sometimes, it’s a little too far and he knows he’s got to be able to turn It off and on a little better. I love that he cares so much. You see how he plays. He dives all over the field, he goes into the wall on the side of the field and he’s diving on the basepaths. He’s got a lot of energy, brings it to the other guys and it’s really helpful.
“I really like this guy,” he added. “I think when people see him, when there’s fans in the stands, they’re going to really appreciate the effort he puts in and the energy that he has.”
10 observations from the last week in baseball:
1. Alec Mills is one of the most unlikely pitchers ever to throw a no-hitter. The Cubs righty was a walk-on at the University of Tennessee at Martin and eventually a 22nd-round pick.
2. Tanner Houck will make his big-league debut this week, so now’s a good time to read this feature on the adoption charity he started in his hometown.
3. Houck, by the way, would seem to have a legitimate shot to make the Opening Day rotation in 2021.
4. Pretty incredible stat: Red Sox lefty Matt Hall allowed four earned runs in 2 ⅓ innings Friday night and actually lowered his ERA, from 19.89 to 18.69.
5. Worth noting: Fifteen of the 20 pitchers who have thrown seven or more innings for the Red Sox this season have ERAs greater than 5.00.
6. The Red Sox have actually gotten some pretty good returns from random additions lately. Yairo Munoz and Christian Arroyo could work their way into the mix for 2021.
7. It’s borderline unbelievable how much some of baseball’s best teams have struggled this season. The Yankees are getting all the headlines but the Astros have also lost nine of 11.
8. I noted in this space a couple weeks ago that the Red Sox had largely avoided pitching injuries when other teams were having issues. Now? Seven pitchers have gone on the injured list since Aug. 29. Before that, zero pitchers were put on the IL with non-COVID injuries since July 1.
9. Red Sox fans did not take kindly to the joking suggestion that Boston could look at a reunion with Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval, apparently, is headed to the Braves.
10. A couple of legends have passed since I wrote this column last. RIP, Tom Seaver and Lou Brock.