If Atlanta’s fledgling offense can get any sort of jolt from the newly arrived Alex Verdugo, oh, what a bonus that would be for the NL East’s last-place team.
Verdugo, an outfielder who turns 29 on May 15, was called up by Atlanta on Thursday and was in the Braves’ starting lineup Friday ahead of a series opener against the visiting Twins at Truist Park.
Verdugo was penciled into the leadoff spot.
“They (the Braves) offered a deal, and it was one those things, man, I didn’t really know what I was gonna do,” Verdugo said Friday. “I figured I would kind of back myself up a little bit, just kind of bet on myself and whatever the opportunity was just kind of run with that. That’s it. I’m happy that the Braves signed me and happy to be here, and I think we got a good squad, so just wanna come out here and try to contribute any way I can.”
Atlanta signed Verdugo in March for one year at $1.5 million. The former member of the Dodgers, Red Sox (where he was a teammate with Braves pitcher Chris Sale) and Yankees headed to the Gwinnett Stripers to put himself in the ready position for the 2025 season with the big-league club. He had 29 at-bats over nine games, registered an OPS of .751, hit a pair of homers, drove in four and struck out four times at Gwinnett.
Verdugo replaces Bryan De La Cruz, who was optioned to AAA Gwinnett on Thursday in a corresponding move. De La Cruz hit just .191 in 16 games with Atlanta and struck out every 2.6 at-bats.
The Braves are hoping Verdugo, meanwhile, performs like he did in 2019 with Los Angeles when he had a WAR of +2.9 over 106 games. In 2021 and 2013 with Boston, Verdugo drove in 117 runs, had 69 doubles and 26 home runs.
Those types of numbers gave the New York Yankees reason to take a chance on Verdugo by giving him an $8.7 million deal for 2024. He drove in 31 runs for New York in 149 games, was a Gold Glove finalist and played in all five games of the 2024 World Series (going 4-for-17 with five RBIs).
Verdugo then became a free agent after the season and his phone inexplicably went quiet — until Atlanta called.
“It definitely pisses you off in a sense, but at the same time, I think everything happens for a reason,” Verdugo said. “Whatever that reason is, it kind of gave me a little bit more fuel, gave me a little bit more — something inside me kind of woke up a little bit again.”
A lefty, Verdugo was originally drafted in the second round by Los Angeles in 2014 (and was in that organization the same time as Braves pitcher Grant Holmes). The Arizona native made his debut in 2017.
Atlanta (5-13) is desperate for the return of star Ronald Acuna Jr. to its lineup, especially given centerfielder Michael Harris (.179, 19 Ks) is off to a dreadful start and any combination of De La Cruz, Jarred Kelenic, Eli White and Stuart Fairchild has been fruitless. Jurickson Profar’s 80-game suspension hasn’t helped matters, either.
Thus, it’s time to see if Verdugo is the answer. In the short-term, anyway.
“You’re looking for positive somewhere,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You’re looking for anything to hopefully, maybe, in two weeks we’re looking back and what kind of got us going a little bit. We’re having a hard time getting ourselves off the ground. There’s no mistaking that. It’s evident. You just never know when it’ll change. It’s happened before. How many times at trade deadlines have we gotten a guy and all of a sudden it’s kind of worked out. You never know if it’s going to. You hope it does. You’ve seen it before. Hopefully this is another time.”
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