CINCINNATI – In his first season with the Braves and first full season in the majors, second baseman Jace Peterson had played 30 games before Wedenesday, the second 15 of which had yielded entirely different results than the first 15.
After hitting just .171 with two RBIs, a .239 OBP and .220 slugging percentage through 15 games, Peterson hit .392 (20-for-51) with seven RBIs, a .458 OBP and .412 slugging percentage in his past 15 games entering Wednesday’s series finale against the Reds.
“I feel great,” said Peterson, who turned 25 Saturday. “Really I haven’t changed much, just trying to be aggressive. Get a good pitch to hit and really just trust my swing, trust what I worked on, and I think that’s starting to kind of fall in place a little bit. Hopefully it keeps on coming.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has been perhaps Peterson’s biggest fan going back to the first week of spring training, and has played him almost every day after a brief period of platooning.
“He’s getting good at-bats,” Gonzalez said. “We forget that he’s down there just kind of plugging away, and he’s hitting what, .280?” (Actually, Peterson was up to .293 with a .362 OBP after a two-hit night Wednesday that was his fifth multi-hit game in seven.) “And he’s lined out with people on base.”
Peterson’s stats would indeed be even more impressive if not for some line drives speared with runners on base, which happened a few times on the trip already.
Still, in his past seven games he was 11-for-25 (.440) with one strikeout, two stolen bases, a .500 OBP. He had his fifth multi-hit game in that seven-game span Tuesday when he doubled, scored a run, drew a walk and stole a base in a 4-3 loss to the Reds.
Even when Peterson wasn’t getting any hits to fall early on, teammates, coaches and team officials pointed out how many balls he was hitting hard right at people. He’s been a positive presence from Day 1 and earned the respect of teammates and coaches for with his work habits and upbeat demeanor.
What was the message he got from Braves veterans and hitting coach Kevin Seitzer during those first 15 games when he wasn’t having much to go his way offensively?
“Chill out, keep working, keep playing yard, keep competing, keep believing,” Peterson said. “I mean, baseball’s a tough game. When it’s not good, it’s not good, and when it’s good, it’s great. So you’ve just got to go through ups and downs and not get too down, not get too up. Prepare the best you can, and at the end of the day, whatever happens, you’ve got to live with it.
“But as long as you put forth effort and do you best and play as hard as you can, I think the outcome will be good.”
