ST. PETERSBURG — Oswald Peraza is getting his shot. The Yankees are adding one of their top prospects to the expanded 28-man roster. The move comes on the heel of a devastating loss to the Angels and the Yankees needing to get back on track after a brutal month of August.
The 22-year old shortstop is considered the Yankeees’ No. 2 prospect behind Anthony Volpe. In 98 games at Triple-A Scranton this season, Peraza hit .258 with 18 homers, 49 RBI and a .769 OPS with 33 stolen bases.
Peraza is regarded as a solid defender, and his bat has gotten louder as the season has gone on. Since June, Peraza has hit .291 with 14 home runs and 22 steals. Just as important after Wednesday night’s loss, Peraza is considered a good defensive shortstop.
Wednesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Angels featured an error by Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the sixth-inning. That was magnified when a hitter later, Shohei Ohtani hammered a Gerrit Cole fastball for a three-run home run.
“He’s been one of the best defenders in the league at shortstop,” Aaron Boone said when asked about Kiner-Falefa’s mistakes in big spots. “Shortstops and infielders make an error every now and then. …..It’s a play you should make obviously, but he’s been one of the best defenders in the league. He didn’t make the play that time.”
Kiner-Falefa has 12 errors this season and according to Baseball Savant, he is a -2 in runs prevented this season.
Peraza has played all but a few games the last month at shortstop. Interestingly, the Yankees did have him play second base for three games this month. That is where the Yankees have another struggling player in Gleyber Torres.
With the other roster spot, the Yankees returned Marwin Gonzalez from the paternity list.
Anthony Volpe, the Yankees’ top prospect, is getting promoted. As expected, the 21-year old from New Jersey will be heading to Triple-A Scranton this weekend, one step away from the majors, a source confirmed.
Volpe is hitting .252/.350/.470 with an .820 OPS and 18 home runs in 109 games with the Double-A Somerset team.
The first-round draft pick out of Delbarton High School will replace Peraza.
Volpe is ranked the eighth-best prospect in baseball in the latest rankings by MLB.com and is projected to make his big league debut at some point next season.
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