Boston Red Sox

Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo shares desire to pitch, too

Verdugo pitched in high school, throwing a fastball that reached 97 mph.

Alex Verdugo wants to work on becoming a two-way player.

By Conor Roche

2 minutes to read

If Alex Verdugo gets his wish, Angels star Shohei Ohtani might not be the only two-way player in MLB in the next couple of years.

The Red Sox outfielder is planning to work on his pitching skills this offseason and hopes to become a two-way player by 2023.

“I don’t know if I’ll pitch next year but definitely by 2023 I want to try to just be a two-way,” Verdugo told reporters on Friday. “Not a [Shohei] Ohtani where he is starting and all that. I just want to be a reliever. Come in, help the boys out, something like that. But obviously, I know I got a ways to go. And my thing was give me a year or so to build up my arm strength, long toss and all that, make sure the arm can handle the hard throws. And, hey, a couple blowout games, let me go out there and pitch.

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“If my stuff is good, if I’m getting swing-and-miss, why not run with it? If it’s flat, average and I’m not getting the job done, then, hey, at least I said I tried it.”

Verdugo last pitched in high school at Sahuaro High School in Tucson, Arizona. He said his fastball topped out at 97 mph and that he feels “like that’s still in him.”

To go along with his fastball, Verdugo had a curveball, slider, and a knucklecurve in his repertoire as a high school pitcher.

“That would be my repertoire,” Verdugo said of his pitches. “I would have to play around. I don’t think the curveball would be as good just because I lost some of the sticky [stuff].”

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Verdugo’s hoping the Red Sox give him a chance at some point down the line to pitch, but the team doesn’t seem to share that goal.

“He said that this offseason he might go to Driveline and work on his pitching again because he feels he can throw 97, 98 [mph],” Alex Cora said. “I guess he used to do that and become a two-way player. We’re like, ‘No, you’re not doing that. You’re actually getting better physically and you have to take care of yourself and be ready for spring training.’”

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