PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Red Sox were one of the better offensive teams in baseball as they reached the ALCS last season, ranked among the league leaders in runs scored, OPS, slugging percentage and a handful of other categories.
J.D. Martinez had a bounce back season. Xander Bogaerts won a Silver Slugger award. Bobby Dalbec blossomed in the second half and finished with 25 homers as a rookie.
The Sox should again feature one of the better lineups in either league this season, but it's not as though there isn't room for improvement -- both collectively and individually.
One player of whom more is expected in 2022 is Alex Verdugo. In the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, Verdugo was a bright spot and the expectation was that he would continue to grow as a hitter in 2021. Instead, in some areas, Verdugo regressed.
To begin with, the power surge didn't happen. After hitting six homers in 53 games in 2020, he managed just 13 during last year's full schedule, including just four after June. And then there were his struggles against lefthanded pitching: after previously experiencing success against lefties at every previous level, Verdugo hit just .228 against them, with an OPS of only .554.
Looking back, Verudgo blames some stubbornness for his issues against southpaws.
"It was just mental, honestly,'' said Verdugo. "I knew what they were going to do and instead of seeing the pitch and maybe taking it or staying inside of it, I just kept opening up and hitting groundballs to first or second. For me, I'm going to take away all the mental stuff. Everybody wants to talk about the struggles, and I get it. But I've hit lefties my entire life, from the minors to the big leagues. Even second half, I turned it up against them as well. I had a lot better second half against lefties than the first half. For me, just use the big part of the field against them, stay small and big things will happen. I'm looking forward to righting the wrong. I didn't like that feeling all last offseason.
"It was the definition of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. For me, (it should have been) 'Stop trying to open up and spin off on the ball. Keep that front side in and stay inside the ball.' You stay inside those, you're going to filet some of them, you're to hit some line drives. For me, trust it. I know I have the hands good enough and get out of your head.''
Verdugo admits he let some criticism get to him at times last season, but he's learned how to better shut out the outside noise.
"Having a family, having my (son), it's really made me mature,'' he said. "When I go home now, it doesn't matter if I went 0-for-3 with punchies. I've got to go see my baby boy and see my family. They love me no matter what. At the end of the day, it's a game, let's have fun with it. When I'm having fun with it, good things happen.''
Verdugo is bullish on himself and expects more.
"I honestly feel like I haven't touched any part of my ceiling yet,'' Verdugo said. "I haven't peaked at all. I'm still learning a lot. Each and every year, it's a big learning curve. You have some things that you do better at, and you have some things you kind of regress with. I've got a long way to go. I know I'm nowhere near the player that I want to be. But it's coming, in time. I just have to start the process and not ride the roller coaster so much.''
Asked specifically what he'd like to improve, Verdugo first mentioned his baserunning. He has just 14 steals in his major league career.
"I want to steal more bases, be a little more aggressive on the bases,'' said Verdugo. "I feel like that's a big advantage. It makes the pitchers rush a little bit. Maybe they make a mistake and leave a pitch out over because they're trying to be quick to the plate. The guys behind me, they can capitalize. But I want to improve at everything. I want to hit over .300 this year, I want to have 40-plus doubles. My goal is just to be a doubles machine.
"I don't need the home runs right now, but at Fenway, once I open up that left side, there's a lot of doubles out there. It's just a matter of seeing the ball a little deeper, stay inside of it and we'll be right there.''
The numbers this spring suggest there's more work to do, but Verdugo thinks a breakout is within reach.
"I'm close,'' insisted Verdugo, who is hitting just .167 in Grapefruit League play following a hitless afternoon against Tampa Bay. "I know the results and by the looks of it, it doesn't seem that close right now. But we are close. I'm grinding on some things and working on (correcting) some bad habits that I kind of get into. For me, it's not a big deal. This game is hard and at the end of the day, you can only look so much into spring training (results).