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The Reds announced this afternoon that Jose Peraza has been optioned to AAA-Louisville. The move became necessary when the Reds activated Joey Votto from the Injured List. Votto is in the Reds lineup, batting second.
The demotion for Peraza is both less than and more than it seems.
On the one hand, the Louisville Bats last game is on Labor Day. After that Peraza can and will be recalled to the Reds roster. So he’ll be in the minor leagues for a week. At least with Louisville, he’ll presumably play regularly. His playing time with the Reds has been limited. Despite injuries to three regulars, Peraza has started only twice in more than two weeks. For all the misplaced concern that the arrival of Freddy Galvis would mean reduced playing time for Josh VanMeter, the real casualty of the Galvis acquisition has been Peraza. The two games Peraza has started since Aug. 11 have been at third base and left field. So this afternoon’s move should get Peraza more playing time in the short term. He might be more productive when he returns.
On the other hand, the Reds used up Peraza’s last minor league option for a five-day stint. The decision lays plain the pecking order in the eyes of the Reds. The roster squeeze was genuine, to be sure. If not Peraza, the Reds would have had to send Kyle Farmer or Derek Dietrich down, or one of the eight bullpen members.
Peraza has hit an anemic .237/.284/.346 this year. That’s good for a 61 wRC+, or 39% below league average in run production. His stolen base number is down from 23 to 5. Despite a league-wide long ball epidemic, Peraza’s home run count has been cut by more than half, from 14 to 6. His walk-rate remains one of the worst in baseball, 3.9% and he went two months without a single base on balls.
The Peraza champions have pointed to the 182 hits he had last year. But many of those were softly hit balls that the Reds were fortunate fell in. Peraza has not improved his plate approach. He still swings at way too many pitches outside the strike zone and hits for little power. He’s in the bottom 20 in MLB in average hit velocity and percentage of balls hit 95 mph or better. His bad start and continued lack of success at the plate should have been no surprise for people who looked at the right numbers.
One criticism of the Reds decision to make Peraza the centerpiece of the Todd Frazier trade was the ubiquity of light-hitting middle infielders. The acquisitions of Jose Iglesias and Freddy Galvis, and the play of Josh VanMeter, all of whom have easily surpassed Peraza, is powerful evidence of that.
Jose Peraza will be back with the Reds in short time. But today’s move clarified the writing that was already on the locker room wall.
[Featured image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1152990004995592192]
2020 SS depth chart. The Reds have 2 top defensive SS in the FA pool for 2020. Galvis is controlled. Peraza is bad and expensive. Iglesias is far better than peraza. Peraza will be non tendered.
I don’t even want Peraza on the bench in 2020. When a guy comes off the bench, it would be really nice if he could deliver a bit of power as a pinch hitter (ain’t gonna happen), have a decent chance of getting on base somehow in a close game (unlikely to happen), or at least plays really good defense at multiple positions (don’t make me laugh).
I’m also not so sure that concern about VanMeter losing playing was ‘misplaced’ as much as it was less of an issue when Votto went on the injured list. I’ll be curious to see how often VanMeter gets to start now that Votto and Dietrich are back, along with Galvis and Jose Iglesias. I’d sure like to see VanMeter get to face some lefty pitchers.
I agree and I think that’s getting more and more unlikely. The roster squeeze is real. Peraza will be an Arb2 guy and due several million dollars, which is too expensive for a player that offers as little as he does. Alex Blandino, for example, would be league minimum. Plus all the guys in the free agent pool, like Iglesias and Dietrich last year, who were both cheaper than Peraza would be.
David Bell recognizes how well Josh VanMeter is playing. He’s batting JVM leadoff against RHP. I don’t understand calls for VanMeter to play “every game” since there are other players, including Freddy Galvis to look at. Galvis is auditioning for 2019, at SS or 2B. He’ll get plenty of chances.
What kind of playing time would you give Ervin? Would you play JVM against LHP if it meant not playing Ervin?
I think Peraza has a very real chance of getting non-tendered. Not a sentence I expected to write before this season started, but he just doesn’t bring much to the table. 2018 looks more like an outlier with every passing day.
Peraza is the classic example of being dependent on vagaries of BABIP. When you don’t have power or plate discipline to walk, your value comes entirely from batting average. That’s a skill that depends highly on balls falling in, especially if you are a soft hitter, like Peraza. Bad combination, and he doesn’t have plus defense anywhere. He really got caught in a bad situation this year with Gennett getting hurt, then Dietrich catching fire, then Iglesias doing his thing. Peraza got bounced around. On the other hand, you have to win a job at some point.
Ervin? I confess I don’t know what to do with him. But I think I wouldn’t mind seeing Senzel get a few more days off occasionally. Just to keep him healthy. He already strikes me as a ballplayer, and my bigger concern is not inviting health issues.
My issue with Galvis, and for that matter, Jose Iglesias, I suppose, is that they already have track records. We kinda know what they can do. And they could still fit into 2020. Galvis’ home run numbers are up, but so are everybody else’s, or so it seems. …. But we’re still waiting to see what Ervin and VanMeter can do. Just seems odd that Galvis is auditioning at the expense of VanMeter’s and Ervin’s auditions. I kinda forgot about Blandino.
I’d also be fine with Votto getting a few more days off here and there. We’ve got guys who need to play, and given his age and back issue, what’s the harm in sacrificing a few days of playing time?
Steve, in your opinion is JVM a candidate as a full-time 2B in 2020? If he is, wouldn’t it be prudent to get a long look at him versus LHP? Unfortunately, it looks like Iglesias-Galvis is 2020’s keystone combo. We could have three full-time infielders with less than 100 wRC+. Can the Reds compete with such a deficit in the infield?
Hey Pete – Yes, I think JVM is a candidate for being a nearly full-time 2B in 2020. Or the LH half of a platoon, which is 75% of the games. It would be good to get more data on him vs. LHP, but if that comes at the expense of Ervin or another young player, I don’t see the case for it. There’s nothing wrong with going into the season planning on a platoon.
I’m not so sure about Iglesias-Galvis. I think one of the reasons they acquired Galvis was their uncertainty regarding Iglesias. It takes to for a deal and Iglesias has to want to play for the Reds and the Reds have to pay the most for him. There won’t be a home town discount. I’d be surprised if the Reds ended up with both. They can pay Galvis and let Iglesias go.