Jose Peraza saw his first action with the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Peraza was called up from Triple-A after starting center fielder Billy Hamilton was placed on the bereavement list.
With one of two possible games for Peraza to play against the Phillies, Reds’ manager Bryan Price decided to start Peraza in center field for the first of those games. He pinch hit in the second.
Peraza lined a single on the very first pitch he saw in his first at-bat with the Reds. He totaled 1-for-5 at the plate for the weekend. He showed he can play center field well enough to backup Hamilton.
Price opted to start Tyler Holt in center instead of Peraza for the second game. He could have started the versatile Peraza at shortstop in that game with starter Zack Cozart given the day off. Instead, Price opted to start Ivan De Jesus at short.
Peraza was part of the Reds’ pitiful offseason trade return for All-Star third baseman Todd Frazier, who is currently tied for the American League in home runs with 12.
Peraza won’t ever replace Frazier’s power or presence, but he does have the ability to hit for average and steal bases. He’s a .302 career minor league hitter and swiped 60 bases in 2014 and 33 last year. He’s stolen six bases in 11 attempts at Triple-A this year.
The positional versatility of Peraza may be his greatest value. He played most of this year in the minors at shortstop but has consistently split time playing center and second throughout his minor league career.
His youth is also another positive factor for Peraza. He just turned 22 years old last month. Presumably his best baseball is ahead of him.
The Reds are Peraza’s third major organization in the last two years. The Reds look committed to making Cincinnati his last stop for at least the next four or five years.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
The post Jose Peraza sees first action for Cincinnati Reds appeared first on OutsidePitchMLB.