Dustin Peterson has been the overlooked acquisition in the trade that sent Justin Upton to the Padres in December 2014, but he’s putting up impressive numbers this season at Double-A Mississippi, especially this month.
Left-hander Max Fried, who was coming off Tommy John surgery, was the centerpiece of the Upton trade. He was ranked as the Padres’ No. 3 overall prospect, a then-20-year-old lefty with top-of-the-rotation potential.
Also part of the trade, Jace Peterson and Mallex Smith already have made it to the majors, but Dustin Peterson is showing signs that he wants to show Braves fans that he was more than a throw-in.
In his past 10 games, Dustin Peterson hit .447 with nine RBIs, seven runs, five doubles and a triple to raise his batting average from .288 to .293.
For the season, Peterson has eight homers, 68 RBIs, 29 doubles, two triples, 50 runs scored, 33 walks and 67 strikeouts. His on-base percentage is .352, and his OPS is .795.
Before he went 0-for-3 on Tuesday night, Peterson had a hit in 15 consecutive games. He had multi-hit games in nine of the 15, including three-hit games in the first and last games of the streak.
In 23 games in July, Peterson is 33-for-93 (.355) with one homer, 22 RBIs, nine doubles and a triple.
Peterson also started the Southern League All-Star game June 21 as the designated hitter for the South division team.
A 6-foot-2, 210-pound outfielder, Peterson was a second-round draft choice of the Padres in 2013, taken 50th overall. Also in that draft, the Braves took Jason Hursh at No. 31, the Diamondbacks took Aaron Blair at No. 36 — and the Mariners took Dustin Peterson’s older brother, D.J. Peterson, at No. 12.
Before this year, Peterson hit .249 in 318 games in rookie and Single-A. He was injured in May 2015 in the Carolina Mudcats’ bus crash and spent three weeks on the disabled list.
