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The New York Yankees have undergone a lot of change since reaching the World Series last season.
Most notably, the team lost Juan Soto to a long-term contract with the New York Mets. And it’s also been without franchise ace Gerrit Cole after a season-ending elbow injury.
But there have been a lot of other roster tweaks, too. The Yankees brought in Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidft and Devin Williams this past winter. And they lost contributors like Clay Holmes, Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres.
But one polarizing outfielder who was cast off after just a single season with the Yankees has been using that change as motivation with his new team.
“(Alex) Verdugo has recaptured the spark that once made him a top prospect,” wrote The Athletic’s David O’Brien, after Verdugo helped lead the Atlanta Braves to their latest win. “Traded to the Yankees after the 2023 season, Verdugo spent one season in New York and was a lineup regular for a team that lost to the (Los Angeles) Dodgers in the World Series. But it was one of his worst seasons, and the Yankees didn’t try to re-sign him.”
Verdugo slashed just .233/.291/.235 for the Yankees in 2024 and wasn’t much of a factor for the team in the postseason, logging just five hits in the run. But he was a vocal member of the dugout, coined the team’s identity as “dogs” and had some memorable defensive plays in an outfield with Aaron Judge and Soto.
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Now, the Braves are 11-4 with Verdugo in the lineup and it seems he is using his disappointing offseason as fuel.
“Being discarded by the Yankees and going unsigned until late in spring training added a bit of a chip on Verdugo’s shoulder,” O’Brien added.
He is slashing .297/.357/.406 in his first 64 at-bats with the Braves and the team will hope to see him keep it up.
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Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
English (US)