The New York Yankees offense has scored the most runs in baseball coming into MLB games today. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are big reasons why. Alex Verdugo, on the other hand, has struggled in what’s been the worst season of the eight-year pro’s career.
But now we have a better idea of what might be causing some of Verdugo’s poor performance so far this season.
Alex Verdugo often wears batting gloves, but lately, he’s been experimenting with taping his hands to provide an alternative way to grip his bat. But Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media may have just cracked the case wide open on why Verdugo may not have a choice but to go without batting gloves for the rest of his career.
According to Miller, Verdugo recently saw a doctor to figure out why his hands had been hurting so much for the past three seasons. To combat this, Verdugo would often wrap his palms with gauze and his knuckles with medical tape. But he set out on his doctor’s visit to finally get some answers on why he deals with so much pain in his hands.
“My hands hurt. They blister. Then it opens and starts scabbing. It’s like super dry skin. I’ve been dealing with this since they started barking in ‘21.”
Alex Verdugo on pain in his hands
Specifically, the Yankees’ staff recommended Verdugo visit an allergist. Their belief was that Verdugo was dealing with dermatitis, a result of coming in contact with a material that causes rashes, and even blisters, like the ones the Yankees hitter was dealing with.
- Alex Verdugo stats: .235/.294/.366/.660, 10 HR, 53 RBI, 1 SB
The doctors told him, “You’re allergic to your batting gloves.” Verdugo couldn’t believe it. An MLB player who’s allergic to… playing baseball? It didn’t make any sense.
However, the gloves he wears, a Franklin brand, reportedly contain cobalt and chromate, two materials Verdugo may be allergic to. If so, he’s one of a rare group of just two percent of the general population are allergic to cobalt. Another six percent are allergic to chromate.
“Chromate is used in curing the leather. And cobalt is found in the color dyes.”
Alex Verdugo talking about the chemicals in his batting gloves
Alex Verdugo’s tattoos could be part of the problem too
But that’s not all. NJ Advance Media also spoke to two doctors independently. One went as far as to say Alex Verdugo’s tattoos could even be worsening his condition due to the ink that covers his arms. However, neither of these doctors have had a chance to personally examine Verdugo.
“It’s probably the tattoos. It’s very rare, but the tattoos are made of metal ink and you can get a tattoo allergy to the metal.”
Dr. Arthur Lubitz – Manhattan allergist
Again, Verdugo never even thought this was a possibility, saying he “never thought of that. But upon further examination, it makes sense.
“It’s rare, but not that rare. Allergies to cobalt chrome or cobalt chromium are metal allergies. The body is recognizing metal as a foreign material, so it’s trying to rid itself of that or let the body know that it doesn’t like this. It’s overreacting. That’s what an allergy is. I haven’t heard of it in baseball, but allergies to gloves that are not latex happen. Sometimes it’s [an allergy] to the chemicals used to process the gloves.”
Dr. Spencer Stein, a sports orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Health
Yankees’ top prospect Jasson Dominguez may be allergic to his batting gloves too
As rare as Alex Verdugo’s condition may be, he’s not alone. Top New York Yankees prospect, who ranks 17th in MLB.com’s latest rankings, may suffer from the same allergens. But he uses different battling gloves instead of the Franklin brand Verdugo previously preferred.
Dominguez instead uses Nike brand batting gloves, but they reportedly give him the same problems. Dominguez has told Verdugo that he’s had a similar reaction on his hands.
He may have realized this when discussing the matter with Ben Rice when they were teammates at the Double-A level last season.
“I think it’s the same thing. I wear batting gloves, but I’ve never had any issues.”
Yankees hitter Ben Rice
Amazingly, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was clueless about all of this. When reached for comment, he said, “This is the first I’m hearing of it,” with a reported look of disbelief clearly visible on his face. But the Franklin brand said they’ve had thousands of players use their products, and again, this is the first they’ve heard of it too. However, their senior director of baseball operations promises to address the issue head-on, with the goal of making gloves that don’t contain any cobalt or chromate. He hopes to have a solution soon.
Until then, Verdugo will continue taping his hands, in hopes of his issues disappearing while Franklin gets to work.
“I’ve been hitting with these hands for the last three years, so I can’t say it’s (his slump) because of my hands. I don’t know. I cover my hands as best I can. I cover my knuckles. Every day I look like a boxer. I just want this to end.”
Alex Verdugo, not making any excuses for his season’s struggles
Hopefully, Verdugo can put all this behind him soon enough. It sounds like a painful problem and one he’s clearly sick of dealing with.