Alex Verdugo’s benching didn’t lead to his hot streak

Red Sox

“I think Alex has been probably our best player the whole season.”

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Alex Verdugo clearly got the memo from Alex Cora after getting benched earlier this month.

In the 11 games since Verdugo was put on the pine for not hustling on a force out in Cleveland, Verdugo is batting .375 with a .944 OPS. Entering Wednesday night’s road game against the Twins, he has driven in seven runs while scoring eight of his own.

But during his latest appearance on WEEI’s “ Gresh & Fauria”, Cora said that there isn’t any correlation between Verdugo’s benching and his surge at the plate.

“I think Alex has been probably our best player the whole season,” Cora said Wednesday on WEEI. “It just happened that in one play that happened, we didn’t feel the effort was the proper one in a play that probably changed the game.

“It’s not the first time we’ve done that. I think it’s the first time it has gone public, and I don’t believe in the public embarrassment. I think if you do it in the dugout, in the clubhouse, the players see it and you’ll be embarrassed by that. It just happened that it went public and people talk about it. But the conversation was very simple. He understands.”

During his first comments in the wake of his benching, Verdugo acknowledged that he understood Cora’s decision, even if he didn’t agree with it. Over the span of a 162-game season, every player inevitably draws the ire of a manager off a lapse in execution or a lack of hustle.

But Cora didn’t agree when asked if his decision to sit Verdugo was just a case of a manager looking to push the buttons of a player, just for the sake of doing it.

“We have high expectations for Alex. He’s probably as complete a player as we have,” Cora said. “He’s been elite defensively this year – I think he’s leading the American League in defensive runs saved in right field. Baserunning-wise, a lot better than last year. We’ve got him as a plus runner as far as WAR.

“Offensively, we all talk about [Masataka] Yoshida and if you look at the numbers, they’re right there. He and Alex are very similar in those skill sets. [Verdugo] understands and I don’t think this is what got him going. I do believe he was seeing the ball well, taking his walks, and mechanically he was a little bit off. He took advantage of the good weather in Boston and hit the ball the other way and got locked in again, and he’s having a good series in Minnesota.”