Alex Verdugo thinks he could be a two-way player in MLB
"Dude, I could do that!"
Alex Verdugo wants to prove he can be a two-way player.
The newly-acquired Red Sox rightfielder — who is recovering from a back injury — expressed his interest in pitching to The Athletic. If it were up up him — and once he’s played a full season healthily — Verdugo would begin an offseason throwing program, throw bullpens at spring training, and then perhaps make his pitching debut during the regular season.
“I’d be like, ‘All right, I won’t throw hard today, I promise you guys!’” Verdugo said. “I’ll just go out there, and maybe I’m throwing 70 percent and touching 90 (mph). And then they’re like, ‘Wait a minute!’”
Verdugo, who was drafted by the Dodgers in the 2014 MLB Draft out of Sahuaro High School in Ariz., was listed as an outfielder but praised for his arm. Scouting reports wrote that the lefty had a “plus-plus” arm and could throw a fastball of up to 93 mph. While competing at the state quarterfinals his junior year, he struck out 18 batters in six innings – and against the Sox last June, he threw a ball from the outfield 97.1 mph to nail Rafael Devers at home plate.
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Verdugo expressed that he really wanted to “prove” himself as a hitter in the pros, and now, citing Angels star Shohei Ohtani and the Rays’ Brendan McKay, wants to prove that he can do both.
“Once you’re in pro ball, (people said) no more two-ways,” he said. “Then it was like, a couple of guys came in doing two-way, and I’m like, ‘Maaaannnn! Dude, I could do that!”
It’s a level of confidence chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom supports, even if it’s a move the team might not ultimately make.
“I generally don’t like to take options off the table,” Bloom said in an email to The Athletic, “but right now our sole focus is on helping Alex through his rehab so he can impact us at the plate and in the outfield! It just goes to show how confident he is.”
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