Sahuaro HS alum Alex Verdugo growing into 'awesome' part of New York Yankees' World Series-contending lineup

That physical representation of Tucson travels from ballpark to ballpark over an MLB career spanning more than 700 games and in its eighth season.

If Verdugo had time for nostalgia, San Diego’s Petco Park would be a prime location for it. The Sahuaro High School alum made his MLB debut there as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 1, 2017.

But while Verdugo couldn’t bask wistfully in returning to the place of his debut, “It’s still special,” he said recently while playing in San Diego, in part for its proximity to home.

While New York was in Phoenix to face the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2024 season’s opening week, it was a late-May Yankees trip to San Diego — the straight shot on Interstate 8 connecting Southern Arizona to the deepest corner of Southern California — that provided many in Verdugo’s Tucson circle the chance to see him up close yet again this season.

“My girl (Yamille Alcala), my kids, my mom and dad, some friends are out here too, so we have a good group,” Verdugo said pregame at San Diego’s Petco Park last month, where the Yankees would go on to take two of three over the Padres.

Those who made the trip, or who tuned in on TV or streaming, saw Verdugo connect for hits in each of the series’ three games.

He did so batting in the clean-up spot between the American League’s all-time single-season home run king, Aaron Judge, and 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton.

“It’s kind of a weird spot, right?” Verdugo said of batting fourth in the Yankees order. “You’re so used to seeing in the four-hole power guys. They bring in all the runs.”

Old-school baseball philosophy does indeed suggest a lineup’s primary home run hitter bats fourth. No one hits more round-trippers in the Yankees lineup than Judge, whose 62 homers in 2022 broke Roger Maris’ 61-year-old AL and franchise record for most in one year.

Judge is again setting the MLB pace in 2024 entering Sunday’s action with 23 home runs (a number that projects him to finish with 56).

He may not hit with power comparable to that of Judge, but Verdugo is, “bringing in runs my own way,” as he put it.

And that’s exactly why Yankees manager Aaron Boone plugged Verdugo into the clean-up role.

“I love his change of pace look after Judge and (Juan) Soto, and before Stanton (in the batting order),” Boone said of Verdugo, who he slotted either fourth of fifth in the order in the games immediatley following that San Diego series, only to move Verdugo to second the past few days.

That move was out of necessity, though, with Soto, the three-time NL All-Star and former batting champion dealing with forearm inflammation.

Yet that’s just another element of Verdugo’s game that’s proven his versatility. On the basepaths in that May 25 win in San Diego, Verdugo singled twice — one of which came on an infield dribbler on which Verdugo sprinted down the first-base line. His hustle forced a rushed throw and bobbled catch at first, turning a play that might produce an easy out in other situations into a single.

He’s also added power when needed — even if at somewhat less-than-Judge-like levels. Verdugo’s eight home runs so far this season have him on a pace that projects out to 20 or more for the first time in his career; his career high to date, set both in 2021 and last year with Boston, is 13.

That San Diego set also saw Verdugo make pivotal plays in left field that flat-out kept runs off the board in the series win over the Padres. In one such instance, Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth belted a leadoff hit to the right-field corner for a triple. Each of San Diego’s next two hitters — Verdugo’s one-time Dodgers teammate Manny Machado and David Peralta — flew to left field.

Verdugo made both catches, firing a strike toward home after Machado’s and charging hard to keep Peralta’s from falling for a hit. Both plays kept Cronenworth from tagging up, and New York escaped the inning unscathed.

Small moments when observed in a vacuum, maybe, but those are the kind of plays that add up through a 162-game season to separate pennant contenders from also-rans.

And the Yankees look like the top contenders in the AL two-plus months into 2024. Entering Sunday, New York owns the AL’s best record at 45-21. The Yankees took 2 of 3 on the second leg of their Southern California swing, the May 28-30 series win over the Los Angeles Angels, and won their first five games in June before hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend.

While New York had lost the first two of a three-game series with the Dodgers in New York through Saturday, the outstanding overall start marks a dramatic departure from a disappointing 2023, when the Yankees finished 82-80 and in fourth place in the AL East.

Judge said following the May 25 win that the club’s offseason acquisitions have been instrumental in the turnaround. The newcomers include Soto, the Yankees’ biggest offseason get via a trade with San Diego, but also Verdugo, acquired in a trade that sent pitchers Richard Fitts, Nicholas Judice and Greg Weissert to the rival Boson Red Sox.

But perhaps the most significant area in which Verdugo impacts the Yankees, Boone gestured toward the New York locker room.

“He’s been such an important part of our team in here [the clubhouse], the grit and energy he brings to the table every day,” Boone said.

With every jumping forearm bump exchanged at the plate after a Judge homer, or through the bevy of mid-inning hustle plays that contribute to a win, Verdugo’s a big part of the Yankees embracing positive vibes to endure the regular-season grind.

An expectation to not just win, but win at the highest level while maintaining a certain air of professionalism has long defined this Bronx-based franchise. This season, however, New York is winning with a youthful exuberance that belies the organization’s reputation.

It’s an energy that Verdugo compared to the fun of playing club games as a kid in Tucson.

“The chemistry is just right,” Verdugo said. “Everybody’s so free and loose and we all love to have fun with each other. We also know when to lock in, understand we have a job to do.

“And if the guy in front of you or the guy behind is doing their job, it’s going to make your job easier,” he added. “It’s been the best clubhouse I’ve been part of.”

To that end, Verdugo hopes to remain in pinstripes beyond the 2024 season. He signed a one-year, $8.7 million deal in January to avoid arbitration.

“Once I get into free agency and I can sign, hopefully with the Yankees, a multiyear deal,” he said, “I think that’s when it’s going to sink in and be like, ‘Wow, alright, we actually did something here.’

“Right now, I still feel like I’m proving [myself] every day.”

When that moment comes, Verdugo can take an oh-so-brief moment to wax nostalgic on his path from 520 to The Show.