Oswald Peraza earned a September call-up after slashing .259/.329/.448 with 19 home runs and 50 RBI in 99 games at Triple-A, but he played just 18 games over the season’s final five weeks, basically a half-time player.
Was there, then, perhaps something he did wrong, or wasn’t doing, that kept him in Triple-A until September and on the bench most of that month?
“No, you were still just talking about a very young player,” manager Aaron Boone said on Friday. “He was having a good season, but in player development, there were still things he was improving on and checking boxes on. We love his future and what he’s going to be, but he was still getting to that point as his season unfolded, just getting better in every aspect of the game. Oswald had another strong season in a full year, essentially, in Triple-A, and he earned and put himself in a position to get that call-up. He’s going to be a really good player, but his development this year was really important.”
During his end-of-season press conference, Boone discussed the shortstop position at length, noting specifically about starter Isiah Kiner-Falefa that “he is accountable and expects a lot of himself” and “his bar is up here of who he should be defensively.”
Boone believes IKF “had a really good defensive year” and “always bounced back “from magnified errors,” but it did get to a point in the playoffs where Kiner-Falefa was benched, with either Peraza or Oswaldo Cabrera stepping in to start at shortstop.
And in what he saw from Peraza, specifically, the skipper was impressed.
“I was really impressed with what I saw from him makeup-wise, preparation-wise, and what he was able to handle, being thrown into different situations that aren’t easy – and I always felt he was up to it and handled it well,” Boone said. “I just came away really impressed with being around him and seeing him go about things. Hopefully he really benefitted from being up here and in this environment.”
The Yankees have Oswald and Oswaldo, and Anthony Volpe is also knocking on the door after getting to Triple-A in September as well, so that naturally led to questions about whether or not IKF would be the starter come Opening Day 2023, or perhaps Peraza would get the chance to take the job while Volpe finishes his own development in AAA.
GM Brian Cashman noted how IKF was a “bridge to the young pups bubbling up,” and, well, Boone noted that bridge may be crossed come April.
“(Peraza has) put himself into a good position going into the winter,” Boone said. “He’s very young, but I would say obviously we were aware of him as a top prospect, and I think he only helped himself moving forward now. He put himself in a good situation, and will be in the mix heading into Spring Training.”
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