Red Sox's Alex Verdugo Slams Blue Jays' Alek Manoah for Celebrations: 'Pisses Me Off'

Alex Verdugo is not a fan of Alek Manoah's celebrations on the mound.

The Boston Red Sox outfielder went off on the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher during an appearance on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast (h/t Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com):

"If it's a genuine reaction and it's for the boys, not directed towards somebody, then yeah (it's fine). Like I'll say it right now, I think Alek Manoah goes about it the wrong way. 100 percent, I think he does. You can find videos of him, footage of him in Triple-A going like this to hitters. Last year, telling Franchy (Cordero) and Bobby (Dalbec) like go sit, (expletive) like that and looking right at them."

"So it's like, (expletive) like that just pisses me off. It's not the way it should be played. It should be played like you're celebrating it with your team, you're not (expletive) disrespecting another player who is... at the end of the day we're just trying to compete, that's it."

Manoah didn't seem too bothered by Verdugo's opinions on the matter.

"Coming from him? I don't give a s--t," he told the Toronto Sun's Rob Longley. "My job is to pitch and get guys out."

Controversial or not, Manoah's approach on the mound is working for him. The 25-year-old went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 180 strikeouts last season, finishing third in AL Cy Young voting. He was also an All-Star.

That earned him the Opening Day start for Toronto, though he gave up five runs and nine hits in a 10-9 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, lasting just 3.1 innings.

As for Verdugo, the 26-year-old has started the 2023 season on a tear, hitting .421 with a homer, four RBI and four runs across four games. He currently holds an astronomical 1.134 OPS.

Verdugo also acknowleged the need for emotion in the game, at least up until the point where he feels it disrespects an opponent.

"Emotions are good in a 162-game season," he said. "You need it. Now, the whole staring down people or a pitcher staring at you and sharing some s--t, you start crossing over into disrespectful. That's when I have trouble. You want to get fired up, look at your dugout. You don't need to be looking me at the plate. That's when you start getting a little bit muddy."

So Manoah has clearly entered into muddy territory for Verdugo. It should make the first meeting between the teams this season on May 1. Manoah likely will face the Red Sox, given it's a four-game series, and he might have a little extra celebration for Verdugo if he strikes him out.