Draft Jose Peraza

As of this writing, playing time is a bit of an issue for Jose Peraza. Brandon Phillips won’t accept a trade even though the team has tried to deal him for years. Zack Cozart, one of my favorites (not), is still with the team. Have to think at this point that he’s the starter at short, warts and all. The outfield looks like it will be Adam Duvall, Billy Hamilton and... Scott Schebler? Of course, Jesse Winker is coming too, and at some point he will be starting in the outfield for this team in 2017. As for Peraza, he appeared in 31 games at shortstop, 21 in the outfield and 12 at second base which is why I mentioned all three spots with the Reds. So where does Peraza play? It’s a bit uncertain at the moment. Still, I’m suggesting that you draft Peraza. The reasons follow.

1 – Cozart will be traded or struggle. Come on, you know it will happen.

2 – There’s always a chance that Phillips eventually accepts a trade. Maybe. 

NOTE: This trade did indeed happen. 
Reds Receive: LHP Andrew McKirahan and RHP Carlos Portuondo, $13 million
Braves Receive: 2B Brandon Phillips

This opens up second base for Peraza to run away with the job. You can read more about the deal in Phillips Dealt to Braves. 

3 – Injuries are a huge aspect of playing time for everyone. Take the case of Billy Hamilton. He’s failed to appear in 120 games either of the last two years. Playing time always seems to open up.

4 – The performance of others. Schebler was solid last season, but that career .263/.329/.440 doesn’t impress to the point that it should block Peraza. How long will it take Winker to carve out a role in the big leagues? That’s another position to consider.

5 – Peraza is a really talented player who needs to be in the lineup.

Peraza hit .324 with a .352 OBP and .411 SLG last year. Compare that to Hamilton: .260/.321/.343. Yep, Peraza was better across the board.

Speaking of Hamilton, Peraza has a similar offensive game of hit the ball on the ground and run really fast. Peraza has a 1.43 GB/GB ratio in 79 games the last two years. He also owns a 27.0 percent line drive rate and .346 BABIP. Those are huge numbers. Could he hold them? Maybe the BABIP cause of the speed, but both numbers are likely going down. That’s fine. I’m not going to suggest Peraza is a .324 hitter anyway, but could he hit .284 which would be a massive pullback of .040 points from last season? He could certainly do that.  He’s gotta walk more though with just nine in 79 games being a troubling mark. That’s the missing piece to support the large batting average.

But this guy’s game is really about speed.

Peraza stole 21 bases last season. He appeared in just 72 games. He was also caught 10 times, he must clean that up (become more efficient), but 31 stolen base attempts in 72 games is a huge number in 2017. Context.

Last year there were 28 men who stole 20 bases.

Only four of those men appeared in less than 105 games: Trea Turner, Dee Gordon, Keon Broxton and Peraza.

Of those 28 men nine hit .300.

Of those 28 men 14 had a .350 OBP.

Realize that Peraza was a rookie playing multiple positions and he was one of the nine men who had a .300 average, a .350 OBP and 20 steals in 2017.

Speaking of those slash line marks, Peraza showed little platoon splits either which is very heartening for a young player.

A rather limited big league career is buttressed by excellent minor league work during which time his slash line looks just like his big-league line.

The speed? Even better results in the minors than with the Reds. Here are his steal totals as a professional.

And then there is this. Everyone loves his skills. Here are his overall rankings amongst all minor leaguers the past two years.

Peraza qualifies at shortstop and outfield in all leagues (or he should, with some leagues also adding second base eligibility). That’s huge. He runs, and in this age of station to station baseball, a player who has a legitimate shot to steal at least 30 bases is a significant fantasy performer (only 14 men reached that mark last year). Obviously, Peraza has the talent to blow past 30 steals with full-time work as well.

I buy skills on draft day.

So should you.

I’m in.

You should be too.