Alex Verdugo on his first Red Sox home run: ‘I came here to contribute’

Verdugo's notched his first homer in the Red Sox' 5-0 win against the Rays on Wednesday.

Alex Verdugo scores a home run in the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. Mike Carlson/Getty Images

August 6, 2020

2 minutes to read

The Red Sox’ 5-0 win against the Rays on Wednesday was a special moment for outfielder Alex Verdugo, who hit his first home run since joining the team in February. In the fourth inning, Verdugo hit a two-run homer to right field against Rays left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, helping give the team a 2-0 lead.

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— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 6, 2020

“It felt amazing, man,” Verdugo said according to CBS Boston. “I think my biggest thing for me was just to help the team out. It was a tie game, just to get up there and give us a 2-0 lead, kind of give the pitcher, kind of give everybody a little breath, and it’s like, hey, all right, we’ve got some room to work. “That was my biggest thing. I came here to contribute. I’ve played the game hard and I want to contribute in everything that I do. So to finally be able to help out and to actually get a couple runs for us, it’s huge.”

He hopes the homer has reassured interim manager Ron Roenicke that he can make hits against lefties. Roenicke has started Jackie Bradley Jr. and Kevin Pillar over him when batting up against one.

“I always mess around with that,” Verdugo said, according to MassLive. “When I’m not in there against a lefty, I’m like, ‘Hey, Ron, just so you know, man, I can hit ‘em.’ I think he knows it, too. I think he also knows when players are pressing. He’s doing his job, he’s doing what he has to do. I take a lot of pride against lefties.”

Verdugo said he even wanted to keep the baseball, but hadn’t been able to ask for it.

“So far, I haven’t gotten the ball. I didn’t even ask for it, honestly,” Verdugo said. “It was just one of those things, I think there was like an authenticator or something out there. He probably took it and swiped it, so I’m not too sure what to do with that ball. But hopefully there’s many more.”

For a team that has struggled offensively, Verdugo is no stranger to a recent slump. During the last eight games, he has hit 4-for-24 (.167) with seven strikeouts, but admitted that his timing lately has been “super late” and that he has had to readjust his approach.

“I think the biggest thing, my timing was just super late. I was just late — starting late, everything like that,” said Verdugo. “So the speed, the pitches, everything was speeding up on me. So I just went back to being a little bit calmer, starting a little bit earlier, and I’m starting to see the ball better. Starting to put better swings on the ball. It’s a day-to-day grind. Gotta go up there every day and compete and try your best to do what you feel is right.”