It's Time to Bench Alex Verdugo

by EJ Fagan

August 8, 2024

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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission. This was published a few days ago so the stats don't include the last few games.

Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.

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I was a little struck by Aaron Boone’s comments when asked about Alex Verdugo on Talkin’ Yanks this week. Boone seemed genuinely surprised that Jomboy might think that Verdugo was struggling. Boone thought that Verdugo was swinging the bat well over the last few weeks.

I don’t know what to say other than that Boone is wrong. Verdugo had a strong series against Boston, going 5 for 15 with 3 doubles. Other than that, he’s been awful. He batted .150 against Philadelphia and Toronto and .178 in July before Boston. For a guy who doesn’t hit for much power, that’s downright awful.

Is he just getting BABIPed? Not really. Verdugo has hit a grand total of nine balls over 350ft since July 1st - one home run, five doubles, one single and three outs. In contrast, he’s hit 26 balls with a negative launch angle, only two of which ended in a single, and loads of weak ground balls. He’s not getting all that unlucky. Statcast’s numbers indicate that he’s still an elite contact bad, but can’t do any real damage when he makes contact:

If Verdugo were to sit, his playing time at the moment would go to Trent Grisham. By no means has Grisham been an All Star hitter, but he’s hit a slightly above average .229/.313/.400 since July 1st. I’d love to see Jasson Dominguez win this spot eventually, but for now Grisham will do.

The Yankees would also improve on defense. Aaron Judge is slowing down. He was +3 OAA in center in 2022, but after losing 0.5 ft/s on his sprint speed is down to -3 OAA in 2024. He’s one of the worst center fielders in baseball at the moment. Grisham, on the other hand, has been +2 in half the playing time.

Maybe Verdugo rebounds with some rest. Maybe he becomes a useful situational hitter off the bench. But the Yankees don’t owe him anything. He’s probably off the team in a few months. The best lineup right now does not include his name.