{"id":45490,"date":"2025-05-02T00:26:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T00:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45490"},"modified":"2025-05-02T00:26:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T00:26:33","slug":"yankees-add-former-braves-outfielder-amid-alex-verdugos-breakout-in-atlanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45490","title":{"rendered":"Yankees add former Braves outfielder amid Alex Verdugo\u2019s breakout in Atlanta"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-intro mb-4 text-darkGrey font-group-large md:font-group-normal lg:font-group-large\">Alex Verdugo&#8217;s emergence rid the Braves of any need for Bryan De La Cruz.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex items-center justify-between text-darkGrey font-group-bigger\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative md:mx-10 md:mb-9\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full\" title=\"Miami Marlins v Atlanta Braves\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5068,h_2850\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/229\/01jt6kmdqp3jdw35z5r8.jpg\" alt=\"Miami Marlins v Atlanta Braves\" width=\"5068\" height=\"2850\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"Miami Marlins v Atlanta Braves\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"ALT\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\">Miami Marlins v Atlanta Braves | Matthew Grimes Jr.\/Atlanta Braves\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap\">\n<div class=\"flex mr-4 lg:w-[calc(70%-3em)] max-w-full\">\n<div class=\"hidden md:block md:mx-4 hidden md:block\" data-testid=\"share-menu\">\n<div class=\"sticky top-20 mb-3\" data-testid=\"share-menu-inner\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Alex Verdugo has provided a necessary spark to an\u00a0Atlanta Braves\u00a0team that really needed it. His emergence made it so that Bryan De La Cruz,\u00a0a player Atlanta signed\u00a0over the offseason, wasn&#8217;t really needed anymore. With that, the\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0wound up claiming De La Cruz off waivers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"min-h-[550px]\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1918012735423439261&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2Fyankees-add-former-braves-outfielder-bryan-de-la-cruz-alex-verdugo-breakout&amp;sessionId=c0e1cf3aff6c6ea2fc4538afaed8577b4fcf38d7&amp;siteScreenName=fansided&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-uw-rm-iframe=\"gn\" data-tweet-id=\"1918012735423439261\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">De La Cruz came to Atlanta in large part to provide outfield depth to a group that needed it, with Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. still injured. He never got it going in Atlanta, but Verdugo has been everything the Braves hoped De La Cruz would be and more.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">De La Cruz will hope that a fresh start with the Bronx Bombers will get him back to the valuable player he once was with the Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Yankees hope Bryan De La Cruz can help distract them from Alex Verdugo&#8217;s Braves breakout<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">De La Cruz has 20-home run potential, as he was able to reach that mark with the Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2024. However, De La Cruz has struggled to hit for average since last year&#8217;s trade deadline. It may sound simple, but playing on a struggling Marlins team is a lot different than even Pittsburgh \u2013 which at the time was hoping to make a playoff run \u2013 and now Atlanta and New York.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">With the Yankees, De La Cruz will provide little more than depth at the Triple-A level. In a corresponding move, the Yankees moved Giancarlo Stanton to the 60-day injured list. For now, the Yankees have enough outfield help in the majors in Jasson Dominguez, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge. However, should one of those players or the likes of Trent Grisham go down with an injury, De La Cruz can slot in at a corner outfield slot.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Ironically enough, it is former Yankee Alex Verdugo who helped make De La Cruz expandable. The Braves outfield is a mess in itself thanks to an injury to Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., suspension to Jurickson Profar and the struggles of Jarred Kelenic. De La Cruz provided little relief in that situation, but Verdugo has been a godsend, hitting .341 in 10 games so far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Verdugo&#8217;s emergence rid the Braves of any need for Bryan De La Cruz. Miami Marlins v Atlanta Braves | Matthew Grimes Jr.\/Atlanta Braves\/GettyImages Alex Verdugo has&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yankees add former Braves outfielder amid Alex Verdugo\u2019s breakout in Atlanta - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45490\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees add former Braves outfielder amid Alex Verdugo\u2019s breakout in Atlanta - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alex Verdugo&#8217;s emergence rid the Braves of any need for Bryan De La Cruz. 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