Alex Verdugo crushes his second home run of the season at Fenway Park
It didn’t take very long for Alex Verdugo to make a statement in front of the home crowd at Fenway Park. In his first at-bat, Verdugo saw the first pitch from Twins’ starter Joe Ryan and crushed the ball deep into the right field seats.
Verdugo hit Ryan’s 93 mph fast ball that was left over the heart of the plate for his second home run of the season.
“We know that guy likes to get ahead in the count and his fastball plays good when it’s up in the zone,” Verdugo said. “So I got one belt high and just wasn’t going to let it go by.”
With his home run on Friday, Verdugo now was two homers and five RBIs on the season. Verdugo is looking to elevate his play this season both at the plate and in the field.
“I honestly feel like I haven’t even touched any part of my ceiling yet. I haven’t peaked at all,” Verdugo said to MLB.com during Spring Training. “I’m still learning a lot. Each and every year, it’s a big learning curve. You have some things that you step up at and you do better at, and you have some things that you kind of regress in a little bit, and you want to step those up as well. I’ve got a long way to go.”
While Verdugo is looking to reach his ceiling, he is also working on becoming an elite outfielder. Verdugo wants to be a Gold Glove winner and with his play to start the season, he is making a case.
“I’m going for a Gold Glove,” Verdugo said after Saturday’s game in New York. “I’ve got to go for a Gold Glove this year. And also, I just figured you can’t do it on the offense side every single time. But defense side is something we can control. So just try to get anything I can and make it easier on my pitchers.”
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