Braves notch a comeback win, hope Alex Verdugo provides ‘edge' they've lacked

New York Times

19-04-2025

ATLANTA — Alex Verdugo played left field in his Braves debut Friday, and his new team hopes the veteran outfielder can give them production from the leadoff spot until, as manager Brian Snitker put it, 'we get the other guy back,' that guy being superstar Ronald Acuña Jr.
But here's what else the Braves hope Verdugo can do: Give them an edge.
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It's difficult to define what that is, but players know it when they see and feel it. So does Snitker, who went back a ways to cite a player who gave them an edge.
Josh Donaldson in 2019.
'We had a third baseman here a few years ago that did exactly that for us,' Snitker said of the fire and swagger that Donaldson brought. 'That's good. I kind of like that.'
Verdugo went hitless Friday in five at-bats, but the Braves looked more like themselves than they had in the first three weeks of the season, coming back from a three-run deficit with a five-run eighth inning for a rousing 6-4 win against the Minnesota Twins to open a series at sold-out Truist Park.
Ozzie Albies beat out an infield single to bring in the first run of the eighth. After a Sean Murphy walk loaded the bases, Michael Harris II and rookie Drake Baldwin came through with consecutive two-run singles off Cole Sands.
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— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 18, 2025
Baldwin's pinch hit gave him his first game-winning RBI, two days after he hit his first MLB homer in a loss at Toronto.
'I think this was bigger — having a win come out of it was the biggest thing,' Baldwin said. 'It's a lot more fun when we're winning. I know that homer was a cool accomplishment, but it's different when we ended up losing the game.
'The crowd was awesome. When they would have the mound visits and stuff, it got loud. I mean, we feel it. You get that energy. That was a cool experience.'
The Braves won for just the sixth time in 19 games, but for the fourth time in six home games. They were hitting a paltry .182 with runners in scoring position for the season before getting three consecutive RISP hits in the eighth inning.
'I said this feels more like the Braves here tonight,' Snitker said. 'That was a good one to win 'cause we were kind of laying dead in the weeds there for a while. It's good how the guys kept fighting back and had some really, really good bats. Against a really good reliever. They should be very encouraged by what went down tonight.'
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Verdugo (0-for-5) lined out twice and nearly had an RBI single in the seventh, were it not for a strong play by first baseman Ty France.
'He didn't get any hits but had really good at-bats,' Snitker said. 'I like what I saw out of him. He's gonna help us a lot.'
Harris said of Verdugo: 'That was good for me, having another lefty at the top to tell me how he's pitching and what he's seeing from him. He put some good swings on it. He didn't get the best of luck with those swings, but welcome to the Braves. I know he's going to keep pushing and probably scratch some out tomorrow.'
Other Braves have cited Joc Pederson more recently for supplying plenty of 'edge' in the Braves' march to the 2021 World Series, after his trade from the Cubs that summer. Pederson famously said, 'We just might be those motherf—ers,' at the start of the postseason, then helped make sure the Braves were.
But for a lineup regular who was with the team all season, Snitker referenced Donaldson. His clubhouse razzing of anyone and everyone kept things loose. His shouting in the moments before games served to not only pump up Donaldson, but everyone else in a Braves uniform. His tendency to express anger at what he perceived as purpose pitches meant the Braves were always one errant toss away from a potential benches-clearing situation.
Can Verdugo, known for intensity — if not a full-on internal inferno like Donaldson, at least a flame — have any semblance of such impact on this team? We'll see.
'I know from talking to the Yankee guys, they liked him a lot last year,' Snitker said. 'So, hopefully, maybe he can be a guy to add a little edge to us.'
Verdugo, who'll be 29 in May, spent his first eight seasons with three iconic franchises: 2017-2019 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2020-2023 with the Boston Red Sox, 2024 with the New York Yankees, who didn't try to re-sign him after he hit a career-low .233 in 149 games with 13 homers and a .647 OPS, also a career worst.
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Verdugo had a homer, five RBIs and a .350 OBP in the 2024 World Series while playing all five games.
'I mean, yeah, it definitely pisses you off in a sense,' he said of the Yankees not trying to re-sign him. 'But at the same time, I think everything happens for a reason. And just whatever that reason is, it kind of gave me a bit more of … something inside me kind of woke up a little bit again.
'But at the same time, you've got to find a way to kind of dull it in a sense. You don't want to get too up or down on this game.'
Verdugo didn't sign until March 20, agreeing to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Braves. He played nine games at Triple-A Gwinnett, going 6-for-29 (.207) with a double, two homers and four walks, and was recalled Thursday.
Batting leadoff — after batting a lot of cleanup last season — could be beneficial, Verdugo said. He wants to get back to the approach he had in his best seasons. Over five seasons through 2023, he hit .283 with a .338 OBP, .770 OPS and 106 OPS+, while averaging 39 doubles and 15 homers per 162 games in that stretch.
'It's gonna be just, how do we feel day to day? How are we in the box?' he said of his initial games with the Braves. 'Are we getting dominated? Or are we actually able to kind of show these guys like, hey, we're working, we're battling, we're a tough out. And I think that's what I did so well in my past.'
Verdugo has more than 400 plate appearances at five spots in the order — first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth — and another 285 PAs batting seventh. Of those six positions where he's hit most frequently, his highest average and OPS have been from the seventh spot (.298/.873) and his next best were at leadoff (.278/.760).
Braves third baseman Austin Riley watched Verdugo get three hits, including two doubles against Atlanta in a 2022 game at Boston, and have another three-hit game in 2023 at Truist Park with the Red Sox.
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'He's a competitor, and he's obviously had success here,' Riley said, referring to Verdugo's two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs in 10 games as a visitor at Truist. 'So anytime you can get a guy like that, I just think he's going to add depth to the lineup — which we need right now — and just hopefully that spark that can get us going.
'I know he's fiery, and that could be good for us. I'm excited he's here.'
After the Braves signed Verdugo, Chris Sale smiled when asked about Verdugo and said it's never boring with him around.
Verdugo knows Sale and also Grant Holmes from their years in the Dodgers organization. (Both were 2014 draft picks by the Dodgers, with Holmes a first-rounder from a South Carolina high school and Verdugo a second-rounder from an Arizona high school.)
'So I had a decent understanding of some of the guys here,' Verdugo said. 'But realistically, the main thing I have is just being myself everywhere I go. I feel like a lot of my teammates have gravitated towards that and they can tell who's a good guy. So, for me, it's just treat everybody with respect, come out here, try to work hard and help the team win.'
Snitker said of adding Verdugo: 'You're looking for positives somewhere. Hopefully in two weeks, we're looking back at what kind of got us going a little bit. We're having a hard time getting ourselves off the ground. There's no mistaking that. It's evident. And you just never know when a change or … it's happened before.
'How many times at trade deadlines or (other times) we've gotten a guy and all of a sudden it's kind of worked out? You never know if it's going to, you hope it does. We've seen it before. So hopefully, this is another time.'