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After a disappointing season with the New York Yankees, outfielder Alex Verdugo entered free agency — and got no takers. None, that is, until the Atlanta Braves signed him as an outfield depth piece with just a week left in spring training.
After making $8.7 million in his one year with the Yankees, Verdugo was offered just $1.5 million from Atlanta, and the Braves told him he would need to start the season in the minor leagues.
With the suspension of Jurickson Profar, who the Braves had signed to a three-year, $42 million free agent deal, Verdugo suddenly found himself more than a depth piece. He has served as Atlanta's regular leadoff hitter since he was called up on April 18.
Unfortunately, Verdugo has picked up more or less where the left off with the Yankees. After posting a .233 batting average and .647 OPS for New York, with 13 home runs, the 29-year-old has now played 26 games for the Braves with a .661 OPS and .264 batting average.
Verdugo has yet to hit any home runs at all for Atlanta.
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In fact, going back to his final days with the Yankees, Verdugo, ahead of Tuesday's game against the Washington Nationals, has played 28 games without going deep. The 29-year-old has appeared at the plate 123 times in that span.
His current homer-less streak, however, is not even the longest of his career. In fact, it is the seventh-longest, both in terms of games played and plate appearances.
In 2023, his last of four seasons with the Boston Red Sox — who acquired him in the February, 2020, trade that sent 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers — Verdugo went 45 games and 205 plate appearances without a homer. That was the lengthiest streak with no home runs of his career.
He hit 13 in total that year, the same number he hit with the Yankees in 2024.
Verdugo's lack of production at the top of the lineup does not seem to be holding the Braves back, however. When he made his debut on April 18, Atlanta sat in the National League East basement at 5-13.
Since then, with Verdugo playing in 26 of their 29 games, the Braves have went 19-10, raising their record above .500, at 24-23, for the first time all season. They sit in third place, five games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, and just 3 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot.
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About the writer
JON VANKIN is a journalist and writer. He is the author of five nonfiction books and nine graphic novels. His ... Read more