“A motivated Alex Verdugo is always a good Alex Verdugo.”
This was the phrase uttered by Lou Merloni in the bottom of the fifth inning after Verdugo hit this double to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead:
It’s kind of an amazing statement, because while it seems innocuous to almost complimentary on the surface, there’s also a lot going on there beneath the waterline. If “a motivated Alex Verdugo is always a good Alex Verdugo,” and Alex Verdugo is not always good, it then also becomes a savvy way of proclaiming Alex Verdugo was not always motivated when he was in Boston.