On occasion, a righthanded hitter with incredibly quick hands who catches a fastball out in front of the plate might hit that sort of homer. But lefties, who typically catch the ball deep in the zone when driving it to the opposite field — meaning less bat speed at the point of impact — almost never hit such a rocket.
“You probably had to have been perfect to hit it out at that angle and at that spot,” said Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers.
“You have to be on time. You gotta be perfect,” agreed manager Alex Cora. “That was eye-opening.”
Verdugo continues to show a balanced offensive approach that allows him to excel in Fenway. Entering Wednesday, he was hitting .327/.371/.527 with two homers in 15 games at home this year. Those numbers resulted from an almost perfect distribution of balls hit in play to the opposite field, center, and pulled, as well as an even spread of grounders, liners, and flies.
That even spread underscores Verdugo’s adaptability as a hitter. He does not simply sell out for power or shoot liners to the opposite field. He does not provide opposing pitchers with a clear path for beating him.
“Whenever they shift him, he knows that there’s a lot of hits on the other side,” said Cora. “He likes hits.”
With an overall .314/.379/.520 line and modest 12.9 percent strikeout rate (15th lowest among qualifying hitters), Verdugo represents one of the better pure hitters in the game. And his ability to handle all pitch types, work deep counts, and hit the ball hard to all fields has made him a catalyst in front of J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers.
“He’s one of the best hitters that we have, and there’s a reason he’s hitting second,” said Cora. “I still feel he can be better, and he puts the work in. It’s fun to watch.”