Should Yankees Consider Benching Struggling Alex Verdugo?
Former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo has been struggling at the plate for the past few months, but New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has not given up on his star left fielder, according to The Athletic's Chris Kirschner.
"Dugie's been up and down the last couple of months after being such a force for us, especially in the middle of the lineup the first two months," Boone said, per Kirschner. "Just so many big hits. I continue to hang my hat on he's such a good hitter and a young man."
Boone continued: "That hot streak is coming. We kind of keep working there. I feel like over the last couple of months; there'll be a week where he's really starting to show it where he's lining balls a lot. I do think he's hit into some tough luck. But he's had some stretches, too, where it's just kind of been up and down. He's been fighting it and grinding it a little bit. It's just a classic example of how difficult this game can be for anyone in different pockets of the season or different pockets of their career."
The Yankees skipper may be willing to ride out the lack of production from Verdugo, but not everyone has the same confidence in the 28-year-old.
Verdugo is batting an abysmal .172 for the month of August, with a .242 OBP and .467 OPS. He has 10 hits and nine strikeouts in 58 plate appearances this month. Since June 15, Verdugo has not performed at the plate for the Yankees, per ESPN NY's "The Michael Kay Show."
"Guys that aren't producing can't play anymore," Kay said. "They just can't. You can't keep running them out there.
Over the past two months, Verdugo is hitting .186 for the Yankees, which is the fourth-lowest in major league baseball; his OBP is .254 which is the sixth-lowest, he's slugging at .260 -- the lowest in baseball and his OPS is .574 is also the lowest in baseball, according to Kay.
"Verdugo has been an above-average OPS guy his entire career with the Red Sox," Kay said. "He's now a below-average player. What's happened to him? This is two months of absolute zero production from your left fielder."
Kay added that Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are the only two Yankee hitters keeping New York at the top of the standings in the battle with the Baltimore Orioles for the American League East title.
"You almost have to ignore the fact that you're in first place or close to it and you have to make dynamic moves. ... Verdugo has to come off the bench. He's not hitting. You got him to hit 40 doubles. He's not hitting 40 doubles, not good."
The Red Sox traded Verdugo to the division rival Yankees in December in exchange for a trio of right-handed pitchers.