BOSTON — Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo returned to the starting lineup for Sunday’s game against Toronto, a day after he was benched by Manager Alex Cora.
“Hopefully we learned as a group from what happened yesterday and that’s the reason that we did it,” Cora said before the Red Sox lost the series finale to the Blue Jays, 13-1. “It was my decision not to play him and I have my reasons and we’ll leave it at that.”
On Sunday, Verdugo went 3 for 4 with three singles and made a nice running catch on Matt Chapman’s fly ball near the Pesky Pole in the fourth inning.
On Saturday, the Red Sox scratched Verdugo about two hours before their 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays. No reason was given during the game. He was replaced in the lineup by Adam Duvall.
Following the game, Cora said: “We took a step back as a team. We have to make sure everybody’s available every single day here for us to get to wherever we’re going to go. And that wasn’t the case. … I’ve got to take charge of this and decided he wasn’t going to play.”
When Verdugo spoke to the media, he said it was: “manager’s decision. We’re going to leave it at that.”
Earlier this season, Cora benched Verdugo for not hustling and after last season the manager challenged him to be in better prepared.
Cora addressed those things Sunday morning.
“I think I said it last year: ‘It’s where you want to go as a player,”’ Cora said. “It’s who you are and where you want to be. This kid, he’s very talented.
“We’re here to help him and support him. We see flashes of greatness and we see flashes of struggles. … Everybody’s different in that clubhouse and you have to deal with them in different ways.”
Cora further explained that he hopes the discipline helps motivate the 27-year-old outfielder.
“He’s a smart kid. He has his ups and downs like everybody else,” Cora said. “Sometimes you’ve got to show him some tough love and sometimes you’ve got to be there for him in another way. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Verdugo was acquired in the February 2020 trade that sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is hitting .270 with eight homers and 41 RBI in 98 games this season.
CHRISTIAN ARROYO, who found himself in the middle of a roster crunch last Friday and was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Worcester.
After acquiring Luis Urias in a deadline deal with Milwaukee last week, the Red Sox said they wanted to see Urias at second base for the remainder of the season. Urias had enjoyed fine seasons with the Brewers in 2021 and 2022 before slumping this season and earning a trip to the minors.
That left the Red Sox with three other middle infielders — Yu Chang, Pablo Reyes and Arroyo. With Trevor Story not yet healthy, the Sox wanted to retain Chang to play short for the time being, while choosing Reyes over Arroyo for the former’s versatility.
Arroyo had experienced a subpar season with Boston, slashing .241/.268/.369 with three homers and 24 RBI in 66 games.
Arroyo’s service time fell just short of the time necessary to refuse the assignment to Worcester. He had sufficient service time to declare himself a free agent, but that would have meant sacrificing just under $700,000 — the amount of pro-rated salary he had coming for the final two months, based on his 2022 salary of $2 million.
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