Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Task
The Braves have designated outfielder Alex Verdugo for task, reviews Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Verdugo’s spot on the roster will go to fellow outfielder Jurickson Profar, who will probably be reinstated from the restricted checklist after serving an 80-game PED ban.
Verdugo, 29, signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with Atlanta late within the offseason. He first stuffed a reserve function behind Jarred Kelenic however wound up thrust right into a extra outstanding function when Kelenic’s extended struggles to hit large league pitching noticed him optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. Verdugo raced out to a sizzling begin with the Braves, hitting .322/.385/.441 in his first 65 plate appearances, however his manufacturing has cratered since that point. Courting again to Might 6, Verdugo has registered an anemic .203/.257/.225 batting line (37 wRC+) in 148 turns on the plate.
This 12 months’s run with the Braves largely mirrors Verdugo’s 2024 with the Yankees. His early sizzling streak in New York lasted longer than his sizzling streak in Atlanta, however his struggles as a Yankee have been additionally extra protracted. Verdugo has now tallied 834 plate appearances throughout the previous two seasons and generated a dismal .234/.292/.339 batting line. That’s a far cry from his 2019-23 kind, when he batted .283/.338/.432 and served as a stable common within the outfield corners for the Dodgers and Pink Sox.
Even Verdugo’s once-excellent defensive grades have deteriorated lately. Defensive Runs Saved nonetheless gave him a barely constructive mark (+1) in 426 innings this season, however that’s nowhere close to his 2019-24 ranges, when he garnered a gaudy +31 mark in 6150 innings. Statcast’s Outs Above Common pegged Verdugo as a scratch defender in 2024 however has him at minus-5 in 2025. Verdugo’s dash velocity used to rank effectively above common however is now within the twenty first percentile of massive leaguers, which has clearly reduce into his vary in left discipline.
The Braves can commerce or place Verdugo on outright waivers at any level within the subsequent 5 days, though given his assured wage and lack of manufacturing, the likeliest end result will probably be a launch. If and when he clears launch waivers, some other membership may signal Verdugo and owe him solely the prorated league minimal for any time spent on the foremost league roster. That sum could be subtracted from what Atlanta owes him, however the Braves will stay on the hook for the overwhelming majority of his 2025 wage.