Alex Verdugo has to stick with new look after Yankees' breakout vs Marlins

As rapper/poet 2 Chainz once said (paraphrasing), "Uno cadena, close to genius," a lesson Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo may have learned through experience on Monday night.

Verdugo's BABIP was highlighted late in Sunday's win over the Blue Jays on the YES Network broadcast in an effort to show that his poor luck had transcended his career norms. Instead of creating numerical sympathy, though, it just made a lot of fans realize ... yeah, his quality of contact really has been that poor. His BABIP was startlingly low entering Monday's action mostly because he was rolling over a lot of balls instead of giving himself a chance.

While his extra-inning homer in Arizona didn't exactly spark a hot streak, hope abounds that Monday night's performance will. That's because not only did Verdugo go 3-for-3 with a two-out, line drive RBI single and a legged-out infield hit with the game already long decided, but he did so while switching up his personal vibes.

Michael Kay adeptly noted the first time he came to the plate that Verdugo had opted for the "road necklace" as his singular allotted chain and ditched the high socks. You know how this works. If it'd failed, we never would've seen it again. But ... yeah, it's a lock now.

Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo hits better vs Marlins with new look

Verdugo has managed not to be the forgotten man among the Yankees' offseason additions because he's maintained his outsized impact on the clubhouse, even while struggling.

Instead of getting downtrodden, he's doubled down on his efforts to imbue these Yankees with some sort of guiding light. 11 games into the season, it feels like they've chosen to embrace the "Dawg" theme, which certainly feels like a Verdugo pitch from the writer's room.

Whether he's barking or biting on the base paths, this guy's always doing something -- and don't forget about the smoothness in left field. Game 4 in Houston would not have been won so "easily" without Verdugo's closeout on Kyle Tucker's game-ending liner, which might've snuck up on Willie Calhoun or First-Baseman-in-Left-Field Jake Bauers.

The Yankees' pieces fit a lot better this year -- and they also fit a little more seamlessly when Verdugo's pants and chains have changed. Sorry. Don't make the rules. That's up to the Baseball Gods.