Delayed Season a Blessing in Disguise for Alex Verdugo

The coronavirus postponed the start of the MLB season which is good news for anyone looking to draft Red Sox outfield Alex Verdugo

Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo’s back injury was expected to cost him the first month of the 2020 MLB season. But with the coronavirus pushing back opening day, the 24-year-old is now expected to be healthy to start the season. 

Verdugo was taking batting practice during the first few weeks of Spring Training and recently told reporters he feels “100%.” Back in April, Boston manager Ron Roenicke told reporters Verdugo had no issues running or swinging. 

Find out what Sports Illustrated’s fantasy analysts Shawn Childs and Jaime Eisner have to say about Verdugo’s value in fantasy baseball leagues.

Read the full transcript below:

Bill Enright: Fantasy baseball season is upon us. Let's play a game of Draft-Or-Pass with Red Sox Alex Verdugo, and for that, I go to Jaime Eisner and Shawn Childs, our fantasy analysts here at Sports Illustrated. Shawn, I'm going to tee you up first. What are you doing with Verdugo this year when it comes to your fantasy baseball team. Are you drafting, or are you passing?

Shawn Childs: It's interesting. I was excited when Boston got him, but then his stress fracture in March kind of lingered on and he was definitely in a void for me if the late high-stakes market, if the draft went off on schedule in late March. He's had a couple of months to recover. He said in the beginning of May, he's almost a hundred percent. I think he's gonna be OK. So I'm interested in him. I will probably not press up his value inside the top ten rounds. When he was getting discounted, he was probably around 18 in a 15 team draft. I was staying away from him at that price point. But I will take him if it if he is at that same value later in the draft. So I'm interested but I was fading earlier. He seems like he's on the right track now when he's got two more months to get healthy.

Bill Enright: Jamie, where do you weigh in on this topic? Are you drafting or passing?

Jaime Eisner: I'm drafting him. I like the fact that he's had this extra time. Like Shawn, I was a little worried dealing with that back injury to start the year that would have certainly landed him on the IL. In public leagues, right now he's going outside the top 200 as a 60th outfitter off the board. And I think that's crazy. He's going to get every day, whatever everyday looks like, playing time in Boston. He profiles as a guy that could hit three hundred this year. He's going to be a huge batting average asset, particularly if you go very power heavy and have some batting average concerns early in your draft. I think best-case scenario, he can be a top 50 outfielder for you. If you're starting five outfielders, you want him on your team.

Bill Enright: All right, we are going with fantasy baseball. Plenty more analysis, you can find it all by going to SI.com/fantasy.

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