Oswald Peraza deserves shot with Yankees
When the New York Yankees traded for infielders Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in March, one of the team’s main goals was to temporarily improve its defense on the left side of the infield with prospects Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe waiting in the wings.
Though he’s struggled mightily at the plate, Donaldson has helped the Yankees’ defense tremendously — ranking fifth in baseball among third baseman in defensive runs saved (8) and tied for third in outs above average (7), per FanGraphs (min. 500 innings).
Kiner-Falefa? Well, not so much. His success at third base — where he won the Gold Glove in 2020 — hasn’t translated to shortstop. To his credit, he has logged six defensive runs saved, but the simple plays have been the biggest problem for the 27-year-old. He has also recorded two outs below average, does not have a good enough arm and has accumulated way more errors that aren’t labeled as one.
Kiner-Falefa has slashed .271/.315/.318 — equating to an 84 OPS+, three percentage points above career average — without a home run and 33 RBIs. He’s been one of the team’s least productive hitters, ranking in the 10th percentile or worse in average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate, per Baseball Savant.
Thus, the Yankees should give Peraza — the organization’s No. 2 prospect who’s had a successful minor league season, albeit after a poor start — a shot. The 22-year-old is a glove-first shortstop who’s been raking in Triple-A over the last month-and-a-half.
On the season, Peraza sports a .258/.328/.447 slash line with a 105 wRC+, adding 16 doubles, 15 home runs and 42 RBIs. Since July 11, he’s hit .311 with a .946 OPS — equating to a 149 wRC+ — with five home runs, 13 RBIs and eight stolen bases. He doesn’t walk much because of his aggressive approach, so his on-base percentage has taken a bit of hit. But Peraza would help shut off any defensive struggles at shortstop while providing more offense than IKF would, once he adjusts to major league pitching.
Now, Peraza did get hit in the hand over the weekend. And while he avoided breaking any bones, he probably will miss a few games for precautionary reasons — so don’t expect him to be called up anyways over the next few days. They will also try to wait until mid-August to manipulate Peraza’s service time.
The Dodgers recently called up Miguel Vargas; Chicago’s Christopher Morel has played in nearly 70 games this year; George Kirby’s made an impact with Seattle in their rotation. Those might not be the best immediate examples, and difference circumstances arise for different players and organizations, but why shouldn’t Peraza be called up if he’s going to shore up a glaring weakness in the infield?
The Yankees could also call up Volpe, though he’d have to skip Triple-A — which doesn’t seem necessary. It could also call up Cabrera, but he’s only played in 39 Triple-A games this season after skipping Double-A in its entirety.
There are multiple players within the organization riding the so-called “Scranton Shuttle” right now: A few being Tim Locastro — currently with the big-league club — Miguel Andujar, Ron Marinaccio and Clarke Schmidt. Matt Carpenter, who’s been a revelation this season, just fractured his foot (which could rule him out for the season) with recently acquired Harrison Bader and Giancarlo Stanton still on the injured list for the foreseeable future.
Thus, there’s room for Oswald Peraza on the roster. Whether or not he does get called up soon is a different conversation for a different day, but there’s certainly a case to be made he should sooner rather than later with his two-way upside. The Yankees are clearly in-need of a jolt, having gone 10-16 over their last 26 due to myriad reasons. Luis Severino and Gleyber Torres have provided jolts as prospects in the past, and there’s some reason to believe that Peraza could do the same.
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