MIAMI – Jace Peterson never played as much baseball in one year as he has now, even if you were to add his 22 games and 100 plate appearances in the 2014 Arizona Fall League to his totals that year in Double-A, Triple-A and the major leagues as a Padres rookie.
But though it’s been a tough season at times for the Braves second baseman, who slumped offensively for most of three months, Peterson doesn’t want it to end. The Braves only have nine games left, beginning with their final road series against the Marlins, and the season is winding down as Peterson has begun to feel better again at the plate.
After batting .196 with 16 extra-base hits (three homers), a .264 OBP and a .285 slugging percentage in 75 games from June 22 through Sept. 17, he’s 5-for-13 with a homer, two walks and a .467 OBP in his past four games, all Braves wins.
The progress began after he and Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer watched highlights of Peterson from a productive 50-game stretch that immediately preceded the three-month struggle. In those 50 games from April 26 through June 21, Peterson hit .309 with 16 extra-base hits (two homers), 29 RBIs, a .389 OBP and .426 slugging percentage.
“He and Seitz got in the film room and brought up some old video,” Peterson said. “I feel a lot better my last few games or however many at-bats. For me it’s when I stay back and let my hands work hard, that’s when I go (well). I think I’m getting a feel for it. Unfortunately the year’s about to end. I’m going to take the positives out of this year. I learned a lot.”
During the 50-game surge through June 21, Peterson had almost as many walks (25) as strikeouts (31) in 188 at-bats. But while hitting below .200 over his next 75 games, he had three times as many strikeouts (69) as walks (23) in 270 at-bats.
He has hit .240 overall with a modest .315 OBP and team-high 116 strikeouts in 579 plate appearances. That’s a strikeout every five plate appearances, from a player who averaged one every 7.4 plate appearances over four minor league seasons.
“Hitting lefties better and cutting down on strikeouts,” Peterson said, “that’s the two things I know I can improve on and I will improve on for next year. Other than that, I think I’ve done pretty well. My average isn’t exactly where I want it to be, but I’ve hit some balls hard, I’ve had some good at-bats. So I think really, if I can fix those two things, it’ll take care of a lot of the other numbers.”
The Braves haven’t publicly committed to Peterson as their every-day second baseman in 2016, but he would presumably come to spring training favored to retain the job unless they acquire another second baseman in the offseason.
Braves officials and manager Fredi Gonzalez like a lot about Peterson, including his mental and physical toughness, athleticism, steady defense, overall mental makeup, and how well he interacts with teammates. The thing that raised concerns was the bat, particularly his struggles against left-handers and offensive malaise during that three-month span.
A left-handed hitter, he’s hit .251 with 28 extra-base hits, a .332 OBP and .354 slugging percentage in 410 at-bats against right-handers, and just .196 (20-for-102) with six extra-base hits, a .241 OBP and .284 slugging percentage against lefties with nearly a strikeout every three at-bats. Recently, Gonzalez has played rookie Daniel Castro against most lefties.
The fact that the former college two-sport player – Peterson was a starting strong safety at McNeese State – hasn’t played as much baseball as most other 25-year-old pro ballplayers is a factor in his favor. Means there’s a good chance the former Padres prospect still has plenty of room to improve.
“I think I’ve done some good things and I think I can improve in some areas,” Peterson said. “I don’t think anyone’s expectations for me are more than what I have for myself. I want to improve hitting lefties – I hit lefties my whole minor league career and I know I can easily fix that; for whatever reason this year I didn’t hit them very good.”
Indeed, Peterson actually hit lefties better than he hit righties in the minors. With the Padres’ high-A affiliate in 2013, he hit .340 with a .941 OPS vs. lefties, and .289 with an .800 OPS vs. right-handers. At Triple-A El Paso in 2014, he hit .326 with a .929 OPS in 58 plate appearances against lefties, and .302 with an .856 OPS in 241 PAs against right-handers.
