One of the big open questions for the Yankees entering the NLDS with the Kansas City Royals was about who would get playing time in left field.
The problem facing Aaron Boone was whether the reward of getting the bat of Jasson Dominguez into the lineup – over a slumping Alex Verdugo – outweighed the risk of having the youngster in the field after he failed to put fears that he would be a defensive liability to rest in the final weeks of the regular season.
The manager went with Verdugo, and was rewarded with two hits and a game-winning RBI late in Game 1. The veteran has kept his place in left field as the Yanks look to close out the series on Thursday night.
“I expected it,” Verdugo said ahead of Game 4 about starting the series, adding that he had a conversation with the skipper during the bye. “We kinda understood and we were on the same page. Just my job is to go out there and make every single play I can and go up there and have good situational hitting: Getting guys over and getting guys in.
“I felt like my at-bats have been a lot better, controlling the zone a lot better and, minus a couple where two or three at-bats where I was a little too aggressive early. I’ll take that any day.”
When asked about the conversation to “get on the same page” with the manager, Verdugo said, “I think we’re seeing it. Just playing, I’m there every day. To be out there. This is what we kinda formed the team around when we started the year.
“Like I said, when it’s the moment when it’s time to really shine, really do something I live for this stage and I love it. And this is the kinda baseball I wanna be a part of and I think the team would agree that it’s just good, it’s a good fit, feels good.”
He added: “For me, it’s just that was the page. I want to be out there every day for my guys. I’m gonna save every run I can and I’m gonna produce at the plate as well.”
Despite having just nine starts to Dominguez’s 15, Verdugo was confident he would get the nod for the postseason as he felt he had been playing a lot better toward the end of the regular season and has the experience.
“I have an actual career, as in, I have a track record, I’ve played several years in the big leagues, done this before,” he said. “Never been to the World Series, but I lean into some of my past memories and things like that. I understand who I am as a player and when we need to get going it doesn’t matter how I feel, you gotta go out there, compete, give it 100 percent.”
When Dominguez was called up in the first week of September, the Yankees planned to give the 21-year-old playing time just about every day. During that time Verdugo didn’t worry about losing his job because in a way, it had already happened.
“It was a trial for him I felt like,” he said. “They wanted to give him playing time, I kinda knew I was losing some time. So, yeah, I was upset about it, but at the same time, I felt like I needed to correct some things in my body, physically wise and obviously eating a little bit better, too. So I started doing that, using those off days to benefit myself as work days.”
Verdugo added that he “got motivated” and focused on doing certain things that he had “fell and gotten away from.”
“Sometimes you need to get kicked in the teeth to kinda get that fire lit back on you,” he said.
Of course, with this being a topic of conversation as the playoffs got underway, the veteran didn’t want to say anything critical about his younger teammate.
“I like Jasson a lot, I don’t want to say anything negative to him or anything about him in that sense,” Verdugo said. “He got his playing time, he was able to showcase, get a little bit more experience. And sometimes it clicks right away and sometimes you have some growing pains.”
Verdugo, in his eighth year and getting ready to play his 15th career postseason game, said Dominguez – with all of 26 regular season appearances under his belt since his MLB debut in late 2023 – is “gonna be a great player, he is a great player” who is handling the situation “like a pro.”
“He’s ready to come off the bench whether it’s getting on the bases to run for [Giancarlo Stanton] or getting a pinch-hit at-bat, he’s ready for that moment,” Verdugo said. “It’s just, the time will tell.”
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