How Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo Felt After Slump-Related Benching

As Alex Verdugo’s hitting struggles mounted, the Red Sox decided to take their foot off the gas with the talented outfielder.

Verdugo, who entered Thursday hitting .119 on the month, did not play in Boston’s series-clinching win over the New York Mets on Sunday, which preceded an off day. The 27-year-old remained on Boston’s bench for Tuesday’s series-opening triumph against the Atlanta Braves, as Alex Cora felt Verdugo needed a “mental break.”

The Red Sox manager plugged the seventh-year pro back into the starting nine Wednesday, which halted Verdugo’s on-field hiatus at three games. After Boston’s 5-3 victory at Fenway Park, Verdugo explained how he felt returning to action.

“I feel a little more refreshed. More clear-minded,” Verdugo told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “I was pressing. I need to go out there and just play and have fun again. Be a baseball player and have fun and not try to do too much.”

Verdugo went 0-4 with two strikeouts in the finale against Atlanta, which surely must have been frustrating after a few nights off. But he didn’t let his hitting woes impact the rest of his game, as his impressive eighth-inning snag on the warning track was a signature moment in one of Boston’s best wins of the season to date. The web gem prompted Cora to call Verdugo “the best defensive right fielder in the big leagues.”

Fortunately for Verdugo, a few of his Red Sox teammates have been on a tear amid his slump. So whenever Verdugo turns things around at the dish, it will make the surging Sox all the more dangerous.