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Alex Verdugo 2023 Player Outlook: Provides High Batting Average Floor
2 years agoBoston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo enters the 2023 season with one of the higher floors for batting average in the league. The 26-year-old is coming off a 2022 season in which he hit .280 with a .328 on-base percentage, 11 home runs, and a stolen base in 644 plate appearances. It marked the fourth-straight season in which the outfielder has hit at least .280. In fact, the .280 mark was Verdugo's lowest in the last four years, with previous averages of .294, .308, and .289 in the three seasons prior. Those types of batting average numbers seem likely to continue as well, thanks to Verdugo's propensity for low strikeout rates. He owns a 15.0% strikeout rate in 1,957 lifetime Major League plate appearances and turned in a 13.4% strikeout rate last season. He might not be quite as productive in terms of home runs, where he's yet to hit more than 13 in a season, or stolen bases as Verdugo hasn't stolen more than six bases in a season in the Majors. But he's a quality source of production where batting average is concerned for fantasy managers.
