Fastball

Former Boston Red Sox OF Putting Up Historically Poor Numbers with Arch-Rival

Alex Verdugo was traded to the New York Yankees this past offseason and he's put together one of the worst seasons of any Yankees outfielder in last 30 years of history.

Brady Farkas

New York Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo (24) in action during the game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field on Sept 2.
New York Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo (24) in action during the game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field on Sept 2. / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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The Boston Red Sox traded outfielder Alex Verdugo to the New York Yankees this past offseason in a move that made fans wonder why the team would deal with their arch-nemesis.

Furthermore, Verdugo was heading into a contract year so the thought was that he would play extremely hard and extremely motivated and make the Red Sox look bad.

It just hasn't happened. Verdugo has actually put up one of the worst seasons of any outfielder in Yankees history over the last 30 years, according to @JayHayKid of the "Baseball is Dead" podcast:

Alex Verdugo’s current 82 OPS+ in 2024 would be the 2nd-lowest by any Yankees OF in the Wild Card Era who received at least 550 PA in that season, ahead of only 39-year-old Ichiro Suzuki’s 2013 campaign (77 OPS+ in 555 PA).

The 28-year-old Arizona native is hitting .235 with 11 homers, 56 RBI. He has a .293 on-base percentage and a .652 OPS. He actually does have an OPS+ of 83 though, as that note was put out before Wednesday's game.

Verdugo is actually putting up similar offensive numbers as he did in Boston, as he never hit more than 13 homers with the Red Sox and he never had more than 74 RBI. However, his batting average in Boston (.281) was much higher than in New York.

The Yankees enter play on Thursday at 80-60 overall and 0.5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. The Red Sox are 70-70 and 5.5 games back of the third and final wild card spot. They are tied with the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers in that spot.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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