Matthew Lugo doesn’t talk much these days to his uncle, nine-time All-Star Carlos Beltrán. But it’s obvious the time they’ve spent working out together rubbed off on the 21-year-old Portland Sea Dogs infielder.
“We used to talk a lot. Now that he’s enjoying retirement, he’s traveling a lot with his family,” Lugo said after getting in a postgame workout following the Sea Dogs’ 3-2 win over Reading on Saturday afternoon at Hadlock Field in front of 5,740 fans.
“I used to work with him every offseason when he came to Puerto Rico. He’s helped me a lot in my career.”
Portland improved to 10-4 and maintained its hold on first place in the Eastern League’s Northeast Division.
The six-game homestand against Reading, scheduled to conclude Sunday afternoon, has been a good one for Lugo. After going 1 for 4 with an RBI on Saturday, Lugo is 6 for 14 in the series with three doubles and a home run, to go with two runs and two RBI. The hot streak has raised Lugo’s batting average to .267. He leads the Sea Dogs in RBI (nine), doubles (seven), and slugging percentage (.489).
Lugo is the 13th-ranked prospect in the Boston Red Sox system according to both MLB.com and Soxprospects.com. He was a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, out of the Carlos Beltrán Baseball Academy in his native Puerto Rico.
“I think at the beginning of the year, I was kind of late on fastballs and I wasn’t recognizing pitches,” Lugo said. “For me in this homestand, it’s trying to be on time with the pitcher, and obviously I’m seeing the ball better.”
Saturday afternoon, Lugo hit fifth in Portland’s lineup. His third-inning single drove in Ceddanne Rafaela to give Portland a 2-0 lead. After Reading tied it on Johan Rojas’ two-run double in the fifth, Portland took the lead for good in the seventh. Nick Yorke led off with a double, then stole third base and scored when the throw from catcher Herbert Iser went into left field.
“He’s making good swing decisions, for the most part,” Sea Dogs Manager Chad Epperson said of Lugo. “He’s getting rewarded for it and getting into some hitter’s counts. He’s seeing the ball really well. He’s not trying to do too much.”
Lugo’s one-hit game Saturday easily could’ve been 2 for 4. In the fifth inning, the right-handed Lugo laced a line drive that looked ticketed for right field. But Lugo had the misfortune of hitting it in the vicinity of Reading’s 6-foot-8 first baseman, Carlos De La Cruz, who reached up to make the catch only he could. Still, it’s an example of what Lugo is trying to do at the plate.
“That at-bat when I hit the line drive to right field, I was telling myself I had time to recognize the pitch and I could let the ball travel a little bit through the zone,” he said. “I had a good year last year, but I wasn’t very consistent with my at-bats. I had bad games and good games. This year, my goal is having good at-bats. It doesn’t matter if I get a hit, just get good swings on the ball.”
Lugo also hit another ball hard to right field in the seventh inning.
“That’s when you know Lugo’s on. When he’s starting to drive the ball the other way, then that’s a bonus,” Epperson said.
Lugo hit .288 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI in High-A Greenville last season, before a call-up allowed him to play three games for Sea Dogs late in the season. Primarily a shortstop last year, this season Lugo has moved to third base. In the third inning Saturday, he started an inning-ending double play, cleanly fielding Rojas’ grounder down the line, stepping on third for the force, and making a strong throw across the diamond.
In the top of the seventh, Lugo showed the range that made him a prospect at shortstop, going to his left to field a bounding ball hit by Madison Stokes before spinning and making the throw to first for the out.
“Third base is a position that’s not as athletic as shortstop,” Lugo said. “I’m an athletic guy, so I feel comfortable at third base. I don’t have to cover a lot of ground, but the reaction time, you have to be quicker. You’ve got to be ready.”
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