Alex Verdugo

Alexander Brady Verdugo (born May 15, 1996) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Verdugo in the second round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2017. He also was a member of the Mexico National Team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[1]

Alex Verdugo
Verdugo with the Tulsa Drillers in 2016
Boston Red Sox – No. 99
Outfielder
Born: (1996-05-15) May 15, 1996
Tucson, Arizona
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 1, 2017, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Batting average.282
Home runs14
Runs batted in49
Teams

Professional career

Minor leagues

Verdugo attended Sahuaro High School in Tucson, Arizona. The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Verdugo in the second round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Dodgers, forgoing his commitment to play college baseball at Arizona State University.[2] In 49 games for the Arizona League Dodgers, he hit .347 and was awarded with post-season Arizona League All-Star honors and Baseball America Rookie league all-star honors. He was assigned to the Class-A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League to start 2015.[3] He was selected to the post-season all-star team[4] after he hit .295 in 101 games.[5] Verdugo also received a late season promotion to the Advanced-Class A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League[6] where he played in 23 games and hit .385.[5] He also hit for the cycle in a game against the Lancaster JetHawks on August 27.[7] He was named the organizations minor league player of the year.[8]

To start the 2016 season, Verdugo was promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League,[9] where he was selected as a starter for the mid-season all-star game[10] and named to the post-season all-star team.[11] He had a .273 batting average in 126 games for the Drillers and hit 13 home runs with 63 RBI.[5] He was assigned to the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League at the conclusion of the season, and batted .140/.213/.233. Verdugo also played for the Mexico national baseball team in an exhibition series in Japan in November[12] and in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[13] He began 2017 with the Oklahoma City Dodgers and was named as a starter for the mid-season Pacific Coast League all-star team[14] and chosen to represent the world team at the All-Star Futures Game.[15] In 117 games for Oklahoma City, he hit .314.[5]

Los Angeles Dodgers

Verdugo was promoted to the majors for the first time on September 1, 2017.[16] He made his MLB debut as the starting center fielder that night against the San Diego Padres and was hitless in three at-bats with one walk.[17] His first MLB hit was a single off of Clayton Richard of the Padres on September 2.[18] He hit his first major league home run on September 10 off of Adam Ottavino of the Colorado Rockies.[19] He played in 15 games for the Dodgers in 2017 and had four hits in 23 at-bats, batting .174/.240/.304.[20]

In 2018 he was selected to represent the Pacific Coast League at the Triple-A All-Star Game[21] and was also selected to the post-season all-star team.[22] He appeared in 37 games for the Dodgers, hitting .260[20] while spending most of the season with Oklahoma City, where he hit .329.[5]

On March 23, 2019, Verdugo was announced as a member of the 2019 Dodgers opening day roster.[23] He appeared in 106 games for the Dodgers, with a .294 batting average, 12 home runs and 44 RBI.[20] He played center field while A. J. Pollock was out with an injury[24] but lost playing time when Pollock returned.[25] Verdugo went on the injured list on August 6 with an oblique strain and later came down with a back injury during a rehab assignment.[26] The injury kept him out the rest of the season and the playoffs.[27]

Boston Red Sox

On February 10, 2020, the Dodgers traded Verdugo, Jeter Downs, and Connor Wong to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Mookie Betts, David Price, and cash considerations.[28]

References
  1. "Tucson-Native and Sahuaro Alumnus Alex Verdugo Providing an "Edge" for Los Angeles Dodgers". Sports360AZ. 2018-05-05. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  2. https://www.perfectgame.org/Players/Playerprofile.aspx?ID=306281
  3. Bernreuter, Hugh (April 6, 2015). "Los Angeles Dodgers send top draft picks Grant Holmes, Alex Verdugo to Great Lakes Loons". Mlive.com. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  4. Dykstra, Sam (August 24, 2015). "McBroom, Torres highlight MWL All-Stars". milb.com. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  5. "Alex Verdugo Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  6. Morales, Andy (August 15, 2015). "Dodgers promote Alex Verdugo to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes". Allsportstucson.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  7. Rosenbaum, Mike (August 27, 2015). "Verdugo hits for the cycle for Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga". mlb.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  8. Stephen, Eric (October 1, 2015). "Alex Verdugo, Zach Lee named Dodgers 2015 minor league player, pitcher of year". SB Nation. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  9. Lewis, Barry (April 4, 2016). "Drillers' roster set for season opener". Tulsaworld.com. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  10. Stephen, Eric (June 14, 2016). "Alex Verdugo, Willie Calhoun among 9 Texas League All-Stars for Double-A Tulsa". SB Nation. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  11. Stephen, Eric (August 31, 2016). "Chase De Jong named Texas League Pitcher of the Year". SB Nation. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  12. Stephen, Eric (November 5, 2016). "Alex Verdugo to join Team Mexico for exhibition in Japan". SB Nation. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  13. Osborne, Cary (February 8, 2017). "Dodgers cover the globe with World Baseball Classic roster announcements". dodgers.com. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  14. Stephen, Eric (June 28, 2017). "Willie Calhoun, Alex Verdugo lead 4 Oklahoma City All-Stars". SB Nation. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  15. BA Staff (June 29, 2017). "2017 World Futures Game Rosters And Scouting Reports". Baseball America. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  16. McCullough, Andy (August 31, 2017). "Dodgers to promote Alex Verdugo, leave Joc Pederson in the minors". LA Times. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  17. "Dodgers 1, Padres 0". mlb.com. September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  18. "Padres 6, Dodgers 5". mlb.com. September 2, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  19. Hoornstra, J.P. (September 10, 2017). "First career home run boosts Alex Verdugo's confidence". Orange County Register. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  20. "Alex Verdugo Statistics & History". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  21. Jourdan, Cameron (June 28, 2018). "Four OKC Dodgers selected for Triple-A All-Star Game". newsok. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  22. Pacific Coast League (August 27, 2018). "2018 All-Pacific Coast League team announced". Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  23. Gurnick, Ken (March 23, 2019). "Verdugo, Urias ready to impact big league club". MLB.com.
  24. Digiovanna, Mike (June 7, 2019). "Dave Roberts: When A.J. Pollock returns to Dodgers, 'he's gonna play'". LA Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  25. Plunkett, Bill (July 14, 2019). "A.J. Pollock's return means squeeze for playing time in Dodgers outfield". Orange County Register. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  26. Castillo, Jorge (September 10, 2019). "Dodgers outfielder Alex Verdugo's lingering injury opens door for Edwin Rios". LA Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  27. Digiovanna, Mike (September 17, 2019). "Dodgers' Alex Verdugo will miss NLDS because of back injury". LA Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  28. Gurnick, Ken (February 10, 2020). "Mookie Betts is officially on his way to LA". MLB.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
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