Verdugo finally back in the swing
Early into Tuesday’s contest with the Twins, Alex Verdugo continued to do what he has done best: hit.
In the bottom of the first inning, Verdugo laced a leadoff double into the gap against Sonny Gray and would ultimately come around to score on Rafael Devers’s single. It was the first of three hits on the night — the biggest being a walkoff single in the 10th that delivered a 5-4 victory.
After the win, marked by a 3for-5 performance from Verdugo that included a walk, the Sox right fielder is now hitting .348/ .416/.464 with a homer and an .880 OPS.
“It’s a different guy,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before the game. “Last year, he went a different route.
“I hate to compare you guys, but he was kind of similar to [Andrew] Benintendi going into 2019, they wanted to hit for power, and they don’t need to do that. They’re good players. The power will come.”
Verdugo produced just 11 homers last year, and although he hit .280, Verdugo admitted during spring training that was below his standards. He envisions himself more so as a .300 hitter.
So, what’s changed? According to Verdugo, it’s simple: Think up the middle to left-center.
“I’m just kind of working to my strengths and I’m doing what I’ve always done in my career that I feel like sometimes you run away from it, you get away from it,” Verdugo said. “But I found that just staying inside the ball and trying to go the other way, for me, is a lot more beneficial.”
When he thinks that way, it gets his body in the right position, keeping everything in a straight line. And if he’s fooled on a pitch and his body happens to move forward, his hands are still back, giving him the ability to drive the ball with authority.
Last season, Verdugo pulled off on pitches, resulting in weak ground balls mainly to the right side.
Verdugo’s launch angle (lift on his swing) has taken a jump, too, but he doesn’t necessarily apply that to his evolution, though the numbers say he has. Again, simply put, he’s just on time with his swing.
“I’m not trying to hit a ball up,” Verdugo said. “I feel like I get on the plane with the ball and sometimes if it beats you, you hit the top of the ball. If you’re early you hit the bottom of the ball. Sometimes before, I was a little bit late.”
The inside-out approach of Verdugo’s played into his walkoff single. The ball stayed fair, on the good side of the Pesky Pole, and just north of the yellow foul line that absorbs the padded wall in right.
“I stayed inside of it,” said Verdugo. “Instead of hooking it, I kind of brought that slice back to it.”
More work for Paxton
James Paxton (hamstring) will make his third rehab appearance for Worcester on Wednesday. Paxton will begin in the second inning and is scheduled to go five innings.
“He’s never done it,” Cora said regarding Paxton coming out of the bullpen. “So that’s something everybody’s doing around baseball. Like, why not try it once?”
Paxton has made 240 appearances in pro ball since
2010, 238 of them as a starter. His last relief appearance was in 2013 as a member of the Mariners’ Triple A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers.
He last pitched in the big leagues April 6, 2021, for the Mariners. It was his only appearance of the season. The year before, he pitched in five games for the Yankees.
Champs honored
The Quinnipiac men’s hockey team, which recently won the NCAA Division 1 national championship, was welcomed to Fenway during Tuesday’s pregame ceremonies. Head coach Rand Pecknold threw out the first pitch . . . Christian Arroyo missed Tuesday’s game because of hamstring tightness. Kiké Hernández replaced him at second, making his first start of the season at the position. Although the team doesn’t view Arroyo’s injury as serious, Cora said there’s a strong possibility he will be held out of this series as a precaution. The plan is for Arroyo to be back for Friday’s series opener in Milwaukee.