Spring training didn’t go well for Braves prospect Jose Peraza, neither did the first week in Triple-A. But the 21-year-old second baseman, ranked the Braves’ No. 2 overall prospect by Baseball America, is hitting his stride in Gwinnett, and the numbers are starting to pop off the page.
In the past 17 games, Peraza raised his batting average from .195 to .311. He entered Friday night’s game at Lehigh Valley on a six-game hitting streak, which included a four-hit game Sunday against Toledo and three hits in his first three at-bats the following game. He also has stolen bases in five consecutive games.
Peraza has hit .385 (25-for-65) with a triple, eight runs scored and 10 stolen bases in those 17 games.
“The newness is wearing off, and it’s just kind of baseball now,” G-Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Now you’re seeing more of what everybody was talking about. This kid is doing a lot of things offensively. He’s staying in the middle of the field, he’s turned on a couple of balls, becoming a tough out with two strikes.
“The situational stuff is really good — his bunting, hitting behind runners, things like that. He’s letting the ball get deep and not chasing as much as he was earlier with bad pitches. He’s taking his walks when he gets them. He’s getting comfortable with the league, confidence in himself, the repetition.”
Confidence and repetition. Those are two elements the Braves are looking at now, as much as they are Peraza’s statistics. With the big league club undoubtedly in a rebuilding mode and pitching prospects such as Mike Foltynewicz already making the jump to the big leagues, the question is when Peraza might join them.
But if you ask Dave Trembley, the Braves’ director of player development, he is not in an especially big hurry to see that happen. Trembley was in Gwinnett on April 30 when Peraza turned 21.
“I don’t think we should rush him,” Trembley said. “Let him have some success and let him get some experience. He’s 21 years old. (Jace) Peterson is playing very well at second base (for the Braves). If you’ve got a guy like Peraza to come to the big leagues, you’d want him to play. You get experience by playing. Peraza needs to play and he needs to play every day. And he gets that by being in Gwinnett.”
Peraza was only 1-for-16 in spring training with the major league club, which Trembley attributes to just a little “deer in the headlights” of his first major league camp.
He got his feet underneath him in Gwinnett, where he’s playing second every day and batting second in the lineup. Snitker sees the value in more seasoning for Peraza, but also believes he’ll be better prepared this time around when the call comes.
“It appears to me that things are going OK (in Atlanta),” Snitker said. “I’m sure if something happened, if they had an injury or whatever, you could run him up there and he’d be fine. Whenever they feel the time is right, he’ll be ready to go.
“I don’t think it ever hurts to leave a kid somewhere where they’re doing well, and they learn to play the game. They’re not battling to keep up. And once they start getting their confidence, that I can compete here and I belong here, they start doing other things that helps them learn the game.”
