Alex Verdugo was made unavailable for Saturday's loss due to a "manager's decision." It sounds like it was disciplinary.
The Boston Red Sox lost 5-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, a game in which Alex Verdugo was a healthy scratch from the lineup.
The loss was incredibly humiliating, as it ended on a double play due principally to a lack of hustle. The Sox assumed the ball was either a home run or going off the Green Monster in left-center field, instead, it was caught for an out and a tag-up ended the game.
Verdugo's absence became a point of conversation after the game when Alex Cora met with the media for his postgame press conference.
Alex Cora appears to call out Alex Verdugo over benching
Alex Cora said Saturday was, "One of my worst days here in this organization." Yikes.
Asked about Verdugo's absence from the game, Cora didn't reveal much, but repeatedly he said it was a, "manager's decision."
At one point, Cora was asked if it was accurate to say Verdugo didn't play for disciplinary reasons. Cora nodded and said, "The manager's decision, yeah," seeming to subtly indicate that Verdugo got a slap on the wrist.
"He's been mature, you know, but today, we took a step back as a team."
When he was asked to clarify what he meant by taking a step back, Cora said, "We have to be available. Everybody has to be available, for us to do this, we have to be available, from coaches to players to analysts to the front office, everybody has to be available every single day here. That's the bottom line. And today, one guy wasn't available."
That is a very clear shot at Verdugo, who, for some unknown reason, was benched by Cora.
Previously this year, Verdugo was benched for a lack of hustle on the base paths. The team has had issues previously with Verdugo's lack of discipline in showing up to work on time, according to Chris Cotillo at MassLive, and it seems as though his check-in time for Saturday's game was an issue.
The team has not yet identified a reason for Verdugo's benching. MLB.com's Ian Browne reported that Verdugo did not arrive at Fenway Park until roughly two hours before the scheduled 4:10 p.m. ET first pitch. Verdugo's inconsistent arrival times and varying degrees of pregame preparation have been issues in previous years, according to sources, and prompted Cora's decision to challenge the outfielder publicly at the end of last season.
Verdugo is back in the lineup on Sunday.
