From Bryan Hoch:
Alex Verdugo was mad. The outfielder admitted that he could have handled the news of his trade to the Yankees much better this past December, having expressed his disbelief shortly after learning that the Red Sox had sent him to New York.
It was one thing to be dealt, but Verdugo couldn’t believe Boston would deal him to a division rival — and a historic one, at that. But introductory phone calls with captain Aaron Judge, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and manager Aaron Boone soon had Verdugo ready for a fresh start.
So Verdugo shaved his beard and carried a brash, gritty persona to the Yankees, who had spoken privately over the past several months about needing a player with exactly those qualities. Verdugo extracted a measure of revenge on Friday, homering in a four-RBI performance as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 8-1, at Fenway Park.
Man, I gotta say, it’s not that I wasn’t a believer in Luis Gil, but a performance like tonight really makes me believe in him a whole lot more. He really didn’t have it tonight, and he still got through five innings allowing only a single run, as when things got bad, he buckled down and just blew his fastball by guys. It was remarkable.
But, yeah, I sure would have preferred he pitch better than this. It would have also been nice had the other relievers done better so that Relief Ace Michael Tonkin wasn’t required for more than an inning. Luckily, the other Relief Ace, Luke Weaver, should be available now in the second game of the series. And Cardiac Clay Holmes will also be available.
Gotta give it up for Verdugo, he gets the featured image this time around.
Another great win. 50 wins with 9 games left to go before the midpoint of the season. In-sane. And the Orioles actually lost their second game in a row! Wow!
Wasn’t here by then, but looks like Ferguson pitched like Relief Ace Ferguson. Ruled the brazen cars, he did, by the look of it.
What a strutting trot by Verdugo in Boston, hilarious.
“Boozer” is such a little-town, nicknamey name, somehow just perfect for Boston.
Fenway is such an amazing ballpark. Left field is cool, right field is cool, the middle outfield corner is cool, the whole thing is great.
Volpe’s stolen bases went without comment, but that was pretty impressive.
Agree with Brian on Gil – some days are surely going to better than others, and if that’s how he works out of trouble, then I think it may be time to revise those early reviews questioning his mental toughness. Looked pretty strong and pretty even-keel to me!
I was first on gil, weaver, rodon, Victor (Latino surname), and wells.
I also have an uncanny ability to sway games
Aaaaand of course another weekend where we get no day games.
A$$holes.
I get the Dodgers, but the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry just isn’t very good right now. Is it really worth the nationwide broadcast?
Greatest rivalry in the history of mankind. Seems to me I remember games when the O’s were good in the 90s and they were our rivals, and I rooted for Boston in 86, the Dodgers go back to the 40s and of course Houston. If anything next Sunday’s Phillies game is more worthy of a national broadcast.
It makes sense because the national games are for casual fans, somewhat a la the playoffs. The exact state of the rivalry doesn’t matter for this audience. It’s summer, they’re gonna grill and have a couple beers and turn on the game. Which is fine, even if it’s annoying to us.
Jen McCaffrey: “ “We were trying to maximize his value and I think we killed it,” Cora said of Verdugo’s trade
“It opened up the door for us to play other guys. I think where we were roster-wise and the plan that we had going into the season, yeah, it was the right time.”
Verdugo no biggie but how do you trade Betts? If I’m a townie fan I’m still super pissed.
Trading Verdugo made perfect sense, but they got three fringey relievers for him. That doesn’t seem like it maximized his value.
They let Bogaerts walk, traded Betts and extended Devers, the worst of the three. Great plan.
Devers is having an excellent season. Bogie was washed BEFORE he broke his shoulder.
They fucked up the Betts situation horribly, but Devers over Bogie was 100% the right call.
Yeah, Devers is and was better than Bogaerts
I think the way you can tell Devers is the worst is that the Red Sox kept him
I agree with Brian. It seemed like Gil did not have his A game last night but he navigated to a very good result. I kept thinking he would blow up, but kudos to him, he didn’t. As of now he’s got to be in the early CY conversation as well as for starting the ASG.
Also Volpe is doing everything I’d hope for from him and he might not even be an All-Star. SS is a crowded position.
Yeah, he’s 15 overall in MLB in fWAR and rWAR, but that’s still only good for 3rd best AL SS.
And Correa has an argument based on history and a decent year.
And while Volpe is hitting well, a lot of his value is defensive.
Listen, last year raised questions, and this year has to make you feel a ton better about Volpe. But I don’t think by any means that this is his limit offensively.
agreed, wouldn’t be surprised if he puts up a 6-7 ear season