BOSTON -- As Red Sox manager Alex Cora met with the media before the final game of the regular season Wednesday afternoon, he was asked if there were any specific players who he felt needed to take a leap forward in 2023. The answer came out of Cora’s mouth before the reporter finished asking the question.
“Alex,” Cora said, referencing outfielder Alex Verdugo.
Verdugo, who will finish his third season with the Red Sox on Wednesday, has hit .282 with 11 homers, 74 RBIs and a .737 OPS in 151 games this season. While his average is among the best on the team, Verdugo’s numbers have regressed in virtually every other area this season. His average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS are the worst of his three seasons with the Sox. Defensively and on the bases, Cora believes, Verdugo has taken a step back.
“Yeah, he hit for average, but he can be a lot better baserunning, defensively,” Cora said. “He’s getting to that area in his career that’s, ‘Who is he gonna be?’ We talked about this with (Andrew Benintendi) a few years ago, right? You see the player he has become. (Benintendi) has become a better defender, a good hitter. I think Verdugo has the chance to hit for power, hit for average, but he can impact the game running the bases and playing defense.”
Verdugo has split his season between left field and right field but the numbers have not been encouraging in either spot. He ranks in the 12th percentile of all defenders in outs above average and in the 40th percentile in outfielder jump. His sprint speed, which averaged 27.5 ft/s in 2020 and 27 ft/s in 2021, is down to an average of 26.8 ft/s in 2022. By all metrics, the 26-year-old has been slower this year than in the past.
Cora noted that Verdugo spent much of the early part of the season banged up after fouling a ball off himself but also was heavier than in recent years. The Red Sox list him at 6-feet, 192 lbs. Cora said Verdugo tried to add some mass in order to hit for more power this season.
“He put on some weight, not in a bad way, but he got bigger, kind of like in the same narrative that happened with (Benintendi) in 2019,” Cora said. “Get bigger to hit for extra-base hits. In that sense, it cost him other aspects of the game.”
It’s clear the Red Sox want Verdugo, the prized acquisition of the 2020 Mookie Betts trade, to develop into a star instead of being a slightly above-average player like he has been through his first three seasons with the club. There have been some questions about Verdugo’s off-season and pregame routines. The Red Sox plan to push the outfielder to prepare the right way this winter before suiting up for Team Mexico in next year’s World Baseball Classic.
“We’re going to push him hard this off-season to get back to playing faster, to playing quicker,” Cora said. “I think, athletic-wise, he can do that. This off-season, obviously, with him playing for Mexico, his off-season stuff is going to be different. He’s going to be in better shape heading into spring training. I think this is a guy who we envision to be an impact player, not only in the batter’s box but also on the other side of the ball.”
Verdugo’s position is also a bit in flux. While Kiké Hernández is the leading candidate to start in center field, other moves the Red Sox make this winter will determine which corner spot is inhabited by Verdugo.
“I think the off-season is going to dictate where he plays next year but I do believe he can be a lot better,” Cora said. “A lot better, regardless if he plays right or left. He can be a better defender.”
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