Alex Verdugo shines in Yankees debut
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Lorenzo Delgado, Contributor
- March 29, 2024
Alex Vedugo drives in winning run on Opening Day
HOUSTON- New team, new beginnings. A clean shaved Alex Verdugo was all smiles heading to the Minute Maid Park field Thursday afternoon as he began a new chapter with the New York Yankees.
As he was preparing to play in his sixth Opening Day, Verdugo wasn’t sure what this special day in baseball had in store for him. He just made sure to take it all in before the start of his journey with the Bronx Bombers.
“It’s awesome,” Alex Verdugo said. “It never gets old. Obviously the home opener at home is a little different. You know a lot of guys it’s their first year and I just tell them ‘Take it in, man. Take it in because you won’t forget this.’”
The 2024 opener was indeed a day that Alex Verdugo won’t forget. The Mexican American outfielder quickly made an immediate impact with his new team offensively and defensively. He played a key role helping the Yankees beat the Astros 5-4 before a sellout crowd of 42,642.
Alex Verdugo delivers in clutch
After going 0-for-2 with the bases loaded in his first two at-bats, Verdugo hit a sac fly off of Astros’ reliever Ryan Pressly to put the Yankees ahead 5-4 in the top of the seventh.
Later in the inning, Dugie drifted to a ball in the left-center field gap. He tracked it over his shoulder and robbed Kyle Tucker of extra bases and potentially a game-tying RBI. The play had a 15 % catch probability according to MLB Statcast.
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With Verdugo’s great jump and proficient range, though, it was more like a routine out for him.
“A great play and great jump at that ball,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Verdugo’s catch. “Left field was obviously a struggle for us last year in a lot of ways. The way he was tracking that ball it felt like he had a chance, but he needed to be perfect, and he was.”
Lorenzo Delgado
Contributor
Lorenzo Delgado graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and is currently attending the University of Houston to earn his master’s degree. Lorenzo was formerly a contributing baseball writer for Call to the Pen on the Fansided Network. He is the host of an Astros baseball podcast called Full Seam Ahead, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever podcasts are found.
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