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Boston Red Sox: Despite the losing, Alex Verdugo is fun to watch

ByMax Bozicas|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 14: Alex Verdugo #99 of the Boston Red Sox reacts while rounding the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 14, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 14: Alex Verdugo #99 of the Boston Red Sox reacts while rounding the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 14, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

It’s been a tumultuous 2020 season for the Boston Red Sox, but that hasn’t stopped Alex Verdugo from playing at a high level.

The Boston Red Sox suck. There’s no getting past that. You won’t come away with a ton of positives when watching into this team struggle night in and night out.

That’s not to say that positives don’t exist at all. One of them is Alex Verdugo, who has been arguably the most impressive player on the team during his first season in Boston. As the main piece coming from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Mookie Betts trade, Verdugo wasn’t unanimously welcomed with open arms by Red Sox nation.

Despite the circumstances, Verdugo has been able to block out the noise and play really good baseball. He currently has a slash line of .286/.342/.529, with an OPS of .871. He has hit 5 home runs with 8 RBI.

Despite the Red Sox losing the first three games of a four-game series at the hands of the New York Yankees over the weekend, Verdugo is having a great series. He has 5 hits in 12 ABs (.416), 2 of which being home runs along with 3 RBI. While pretty much everything else about the first three games has been awful, Verdugo is an exception.

While Verdugo is performing well at the plate for the Red Sox, he’s also been playing very good defense and has had some highlight reel moments. Whether he’s in the batter’s box or in the outfield, Verdugo is the most compelling reason to watch this team at this point.

Verdugo will probably be linked to Mookie Betts a lot within the next couple of seasons, if not for the entirety of his career in Boston. However, if he is going to bring energetic play and put up good numbers consistently, he might be able to shake off the stigma of just being “the guy that replaced Mookie.”

In a lost season, it’s extremely encouraging that Verdugo is playing at this high of a level. Once the Red Sox are competitive again, it’s reasonable to expect that he will be one of the team’s centerpieces. So far it looks like Chaim Bloom made a good call in ensuring Verdugo would be the key piece coming to Boston in the Mookie Betts trade.

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