Alex Verdugo is set for an exciting 2024 season, which will be his first with the New York Yankees. After being traded by the Boston Red Sox in December, the stage is set in New York for Verdugo, whose big personality will make for an interesting watch.

WATCH: Yankees’ Alex Verdugo captures precious moment of his mini slugger displaying impressive batting prowess

While opening day is creeping ever closer, Verdugo took to Instagram to share a cute clip of his son, A.J., playing baseball. Tagging his long-time girlfriend Luz Yamille Alcala, Verdugo captioned the post:

“@Yami_alcala left it up 😂💪🏼”

With Alex Verdugo prepping for a potential World Series challenge with the New York Yankees, there will be a lot of attention paid to him in 2024.

Alex Verdugo hits back at being called “lazy,” among other insults

It’s well-documented that when you play in New York, you play under a more intense spotlight than you would in most other franchises. Every play, every game is scrutinized and the importance of every result becomes borderline hyperbolic.

Early in February, Alex Verdugo found himself being called a variety of things on X, including lazy, by former Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon:

“Verdugo, I mean Vertigo is a B*tch. Cora has his players’ and teammates’ backs more than anyone in the game. You aired yourself out by being late, lazy and unproductive. If I played for Cora I’m drilling this b*tch, just saying.”

Verdugo responded to this attack, speaking to USA Today:

“Honestly, I don’t care about anything he says. I don’t know him personally. I’ve never even seen him around the clubhouse in the four years that I was with the Red Sox.

“I don’t feel like he has any idea what was going on the team, in-house. He’s always been a guy that’s very emotional and kind of crazy in a way. He doesn’t really care. He kind of just says what he wants, with no filter to him.”

Verdugo maintained that while Jonathan Papelbon was entitled to his opinion, he didn’t care:

“But honestly, he has a right to his opinion, and if that’s how he feels, that’s how he feels. Hopefully, he feels better, he got his little reaction out, whatever. I don’t care.”

With opening day nearing for Alex Verdugo, the focus will not be on his former teammates, but on winning with the New York Yankees.

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