Alex Verdugo still hasn't suited up for the Boston Red Sox as he recovers from a stress fracture in his back.
But the 23-year-old outfielder has some pretty ambitious goals once he gets healthy.
Verdugo told The Athletic's Chad Jennings he wants to become a two-way player at some point in his major league career, throwing an occasional inning of relief for the Red Sox in addition to starting in the outfield.
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"I’d be like, ‘All right, I won’t throw hard today, I promise you guys!' " Verdugo told Jennings. "I’ll just go out there, and maybe I’m throwing 70 percent and touching 90 (mph). And then they’re like, ‘Wait a minute!’ "
Verdugo hasn't thrown a single inning since high school. As Jennings points out, though, the Arizona native was an elite pitcher at Sahuaro High School, boasting a mid-90s fastball and a "hammer" curveball that led MaxPreps to rank him the fifth-best left-handed pitching prospect in the 2014 class.
But would the Red Sox really risk their top asset acquired in the Mookie Betts/David Price trade developing arm trouble by trying to throw heat on the mound?
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was diplomatic in dumping cold water on Verdugo's pitching dreams.
“I generally don’t like to take options off the table,” Bloom told Jennings via email, “but right now our sole focus is on helping Alex through his rehab so he can impact us at the plate and in the outfield! It just goes to show how confident he is."
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As much as the Red Sox need pitching help -- they currently have just three active starters with Chris Sale beginning the season on the Injured List and could be taxed in the bullpen as a result -- it'd be pretty reckless to entertain Verdugo's pitching pipe dreams while he's still dealing with a balky back.
Bloom isn't totally opposed to the two-way player in general: His Tampa Bay Rays drafted pitcher/designated hitter Brendan McKay in 2017, and Bloom told Jennings the two-way movement spurred by Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani "isn't a momentary trend."
So, maybe one day Verdugo will toss an inning of emergency relief for Boston. But that day should be very far away.