I was a little struck by Aaron Boone’s comments when asked about Alex Verdugo on Talkin’ Yanks this week:
Boone seemed genuinely surprised that Jomboy might think that Verdugo was struggling. Boone thought that Verdugo was swinging the bat well over the last few weeks.
I don’t know what to say other than that Boone is wrong. Verdugo had a strong series against Boston, going 5 for 15 with 3 doubles. Other than that, he’s been awful. He batted .150 against Philadelphia and Toronto and .178 in July before Boston. For a guy who doesn’t hit for much power, that’s downright awful.
Is he just getting BABIPed? Not really. Verdugo has hit a grand total of nine balls over 350ft since July 1st - one home run, five doubles, one single and three outs. In contrast, he’s hit 26 balls with a negative launch angle, only two of which ended in a single, and loads of weak ground balls. He’s not getting all that unlucky. Statcast’s numbers indicate that he’s still an elite contact bad, but can’t do any real damage when he makes contact:
If Verdugo were to sit, his playing time at the moment would go to Trent Grisham. By no means has Grisham been an All Star hitter, but he’s hit a slightly above average .229/.313/.400 since July 1st. I’d love to see Jasson Dominguez win this spot eventually, but for now Grisham will do.
The Yankees would also improve on defense. Aaron Judge is slowing down. He was +3 OAA in center in 2022, but after losing 0.5 ft/s on his sprint speed is down to -3 OAA in 2024. He’s one of the worst center fielders in baseball at the moment. Grisham, on the other hand, has been +2 in half the playing time.
Maybe Verdugo rebounds with some rest. Maybe he becomes a useful situational hitter off the bench. But the Yankees don’t owe him anything. He’s probably off the team in a few months. The best lineup right now does not include his name.
Clearly he is only motivated for revenge against the Sox. He, like Gleyber, seem to have head problems. Agree with Ed - get a look at the prospects. How much worse can they be. Rice could go back down and learn what he needs to do now that he's been up. Look how long it took Wells to get it. But now he knows what it takes. Development should include time up in the bigs and back down to get the final lessons (hopefully).
The Yankees keep doing the same thing. Holdig back top prospects. Dominguez is ready to play in the MLB. He may be a bit rusty, but he witll do no worse than Verdugo. More likely, he will improve with some regular major league at bats. But for the Yanks, again "Lets stick with what we have" or "I like what we have." I also believe if Durbin had not gotten injured, he should have been brought up and supplanted Torres. After all, it is not likely that Torres or Verdugo will be back next year. What is wrong with trying the prospect when the veteran at the position is not doing the job?