The Braves announced that they have recalled outfielder Alex Verdugo from Triple-A Gwinnett. Fellow outfielder Bryan De La Cruz was optioned down to Gwinnett as the corresponding move.
Verdugo, 29 next month, is a veteran with at least five years of major league service time. That means he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. However, he agreed to accept an optional assignment due to his lingering free agency. He remained unsigned until the second half of March, eventually getting a $1.5MM deal from Atlanta. Since he had missed spring training, he agreed to head down to the farm for a while, effectively as a delayed spring training.
His inability to get a deal to his liking earlier in the offseason was surely due to his poor platform season. He had hit .282/.338/.430 from 2018 to 2023, production which translated to a 106 wRC+. That means he was only 6% above league average but that was still decent production, especially considering he’s a solid outfield defender. But with the Yankees in 2024, he hit just .233/.291/.356 for a wRC+ of 83. He was actually pretty decent through the end of May but hit just .219/.274/.315 from June onwards. He then added 56 postseason plate appearances with a .208/.309/.313 line.
That gave him little momentum going into the winter, which led to his aforementioned struggle to get a deal. For Atlanta, they were probably happy that he was out still out there, as their outfield wasn’t in great shape at the end of last year. Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL and missed the second half, with an expected return at some point during 2025. The club took a shot on Jarred Kelenic last year, which didn’t work, as he hit .231/.286/.393. Michael Harris II saw his production drop for a second straight season after his Rookie of the Year performance in 2022.
The club made one big splash to upgrade the outfield this winter, signing Jurickson Profar to a three-year, $42MM deal. But just 11 days after they signed Verdugo, it was reported that Profar had been given an 80-game suspension for a positive PED test. Given the close proximity, it’s possible Atlanta knew of Profar’s test at the time of the Verdugo deal, but with the appeal process having not yet run its course.
Since the Verdugo deal, things have broadly gotten worse for the club. They are out to a 5-13 start, with their outfield being one of the key problems. Kelenic is hitting .146/.239/.244 thus far and Harris is at .179/.208/.299. Before getting optioned today, De La Cruz put up a line of .191/.240/.213.
It’s unclear what sort of production Verdugo can provide, but even something like his diminished 2024 offense would be miles ahead of what the club has received from its outfield so far. For what it’s worth, Verdugo hit .207/.303/.448 during his recent optional assignment.
Verdugo, Kelenic and Harris are all lefties, so that’s likely to be the alignment against right-handed pitchers. Even after optioning De La Cruz, the club has a couple of righty-swinging outfielders in Stuart Fairchild and Eli White, giving manager Brian Snitker some ability to navigate around tough southpaws. Ideally, Verdugo can stabilize things somewhat as the club tries to get the season back on track. Acunña will perhaps start a rehab assignment soon and be back with the club in the coming weeks. That will cut into the playing time of someone, likely Kelenic or Verdugo, depending on what happens between now and then.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Interesting move. Let’s see how Verdugo gels.
Verdugo & De La Cruz aren’t your everyday run of the mill hacks, they’re professional grade. Ahahahahaha!
Braves – Not really interesting or surprising, they didn’t sign him to stay in the minors.
Solid fielder, if he can hit some then he should be able to help.
The Braves have been putrid if you can gel is a moot point. You need to get on base and then the rest of your teammates need to not strike out 19 freaking times.
Amen Butt-Head, batters 1,2 & 3 whiffed 11 times out of the 19. A shameful performance.
who’d a thought they’d fire seitzer and get worse l m a o
Sure glad we fired Seitzer. Seattle leads Braves in OBP, SLG and OPS.
Butt – I still don’t believe they struck out 19 times in a game!
The Red Sox lead MLB in batter strikeouts and they haven’t even struck out more than 14 times in a game!
Sending Bryce Elder out to the mound every 5th day isn’t helping either. He just gave up another 3 runs through 3 innings.This can’t be the best the braves have in the minors.
“Doogie” rides again.
DLC picked up where he left off from last season
He stinks
He’ll provide better defense in lf than DLC w/less strikeouts. Braves should play Verdugo lf, Harris II, and White rf, until Acuna’s back in May. They’ll have great outfield defense anyway. Maybe a couple of them will even remember how to hit before the season’s gone……………
When Acuna returns, Verdugo and White should provide a competent platoon in left field. Fairchild as the 5th of’er can spell Acuna late in games to help ease wear and tear on his knees. Good defense all around.
Bat him leadoff get Harris down the order
Be better to get Harris out of the order all together. The pitches he has been swinging at has been completely ridiculous. Yet he’ll sit there and take a pitch down the middle like he is surprised someone throws him a strike.
Verdugo hates batting leadoff. So that probably won’t happen.
Was he playing well at AAA?
He was batting .207, so not much hope there.
751 OPS
And 207 is better than any of the Braves starting outfielders were hitting anyways.
That’s true!
Remember, no spring training, though I’m aware of his career AVG not being that much higher. Considering Kelenic/de lz Cruz were combining for a -0.6 WAR….you’ll have to dig that low bar out of the ground.
Run – If he has the beard he will hit better than last year.
Last 3 games he was 3 for 9 with 3 BB and a HR.
Poverty franchise rearranging chairs on the ss titanic.
More like the SS Minnow
Good move for the Braves. As to de la Cruz, it’s interesting, he seems to have the talent, the eye test looks like he has the talent, but it has never shown on the field.
If you look at his big leagues numbers, he’s gotten progressively worse each year. Weird to watch a younger player only slide down in production.
He’s never played “well” at any level he ever been at, so I’m gonna take a wild guess & say no. Ahahahahahaha
The laws of relativity. He’s better than what they had. Less worse.
Sometimes you see a player on an opposing team who you just don’t like. For whatever reason. But you tell yourself if he was on your team, you’d probably root for him as one of your own.
For other teams, I’d bet Dustin Pedroia was like that. We Sox fans obviously loved everything about his game, but his fire and cockiness likely rubbed a lot of ALE fans the wrong way.
I always thought Alex Verdugo was a little dooshy and carried himself in a way that made me not think too much of him while he was on the Dodgers. Then he was traded to Boston. I liked him less.
Good luck Atlanta.
Not to step on your point, but as a Jays fan, I actually liked Pedroia. He came across as a hard worker, a hustler. The image I have of him in my head is a guy with a perpetually dirty uniform. He earned what he got, and I can respect that.
For me, Jeter was the guy I couldn’t stand. 5 gold gloves with a career -165 DRS. That’s a guy who got far more then he earned.
Yes, Jeter is another perfect example. He was a natural dislike just because of who he played for, but the overrated defense, the smug face, the stupid fist pumps.
It was pretty bad a$$ when he dove into the stands though. Re2pect… lol.
swan – Great post, I totally agree!
I have rooted for every player who has played on my team. Why wouldn’t I? Their success contributes to my team’s success.
Bregman falls into that same category, even this year he is universally hated by every fanbase except Houston and Boston.
Dugie is definitely a punk (Real World Puck?) but just like everyone he has some qualities, including his willingness to stay and talk hitting/baseball with random fans.
But for me,intelligence/instinct is an important aspect of a player’s makeup. Dugie makes a lot of dumb mistakes, no different than Rafaela. Hopefully they both mature as they age.
Some Sox fans can’t stand Duran because of the swearing and the tennis racket incident, and some Sox fans can’t stand Chapman because of the DV incident, and some Sox fans can’t stand Bregman because of the cheating. . Personally, if it doesn’t impact the team then I don’t care. They are just baseball players to me, not role models.
I expect Verdugo to hit closer to his career mean. He’s only 29 and plays decent defense, the problem is if things go off the rails he may lose interest in the season. He’s not of the highest baseball character and that could be a potential problem. However at just 1.5M this is worth the risk.
bum – I think his contract status will keep him interested in the season no matter what.
FPG- You would think so, but these days it’s not a given
should have sent olson down
So many of our enemies are posting today.
If his hands and tats feel better, he’ll do OK.
How long until our new hitting coach starts taking some heat?
Verdugo is one if the better free agent contracts of the off season at 1.5M. Could prove to be a real nice add, and it was Profar’s dirty test that made it so. In a way Profar’s suspension will end up helping the Braves more than if he had played those 80 games, if they can stay in contention.
miller – I get what you’re saying, but these half-season suspensions tend to be worse than full-season suspensions. When a player returns after missing half a season, it takes a while to get back in a groove. Plus he’s not even eligible for the postseason.
With a full-season suspension, you can ramp up in ST like normal.
My point was more that I think Verdugo is going to be good for the Braves, and that they wouldnt have signed him if Profar didnt get suspended. I think Verdugo is a good player. As good or better than Harris.
apple tv sox a fat’un
Only to be DFAed in a month.
The Braves risk squandering a competitive window in a loaded NL East.