The Diamondbacks Have a Geraldo Perdomo Problem

One of the Arizona Diamondbacks' most productive, clutch hitters simply hasn't looked much like himself this season, and that's been a large factor in the Diamondbacks' slow offensive start.

Franchise shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who sprung to life with an elite seven-WAR season and a fourth-place MVP placement in 2025, has a mere .671 OPS. He's on pace to produce his worst full-season OPS since 2022, when (at 22 years old) he hit just .195.

Perdomo's hit primarily in the three-hole this season, but has only 20 RBI — a far cry from the 100-RBI production that earned him a franchise record in 2025.

So, how bad has Perdomo really been? What part of his game has remained positive this year? Let's take a look at the numbers:

Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo having poor 2026

May 25, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (2) jogs to dugout after scoring a run against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Perdomo is hitting .223/.336/.335 this season. Ahead of Wednesday's win over the San Francisco Giants (in which he went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly), he held a 92 wRC+ (or 8% below league average).

It hasn't exactly been batted ball luck that's gone wrong for Perdomo, either. His expected batting average of .248 and .326 xwOBA (expected weighted on-base average), both sit around league-average, while his .332 expected slugging percentage is nearly identical to his true slug, and ranks in the bottom 15% of MLB.

His bat speed is a second-percentile 66.5 MPH (very slow), while his average exit velocity (87.6), barrel rate (3.9%) and hard-hit rate (33.3%) are all in the bottom quadrant of baseball.

The catch is, that has been the case nearly every season for Perdomo. The only metrics that are significantly different between his MVP-caliber 2025 and his poor start to 2026 have been in the expected stats — with one notable exception: his launch angle.

Perdomo's LA Sweet Spot rate (meaning, percentage of balls hit between 8 degrees and 32 degrees) was 36.2% in 2025, while 32.7% so far this season. Perhaps that has to do with the way he's being pitched. He's still battling at-bats and fouling off plenty of pitches, but the payoff swings have looked less productive.

And, notably, he's not coming through with runners on in 2026. Perdomo, who hit .303 with men on and .331 with runners in scoring position in 2025, is hitting .216 and .204 in those respective categories this year.

All of that adds up to an underwhelming line, and plenty of understandable frustration surrounding a three-hole hitter who isn't rewarding his one- and two-hole hitters. But has Perdomo been a completely dead weight this season? Not exactly.

What's Geraldo Perdomo doing well this year?

May 20, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (2) catches a ball in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The good news about Perdomo's hitting metrics are that the core strengths are still there. His chase rate (21.9%), whiff rate (10.9%), strikeout rate (13%) and walk rate (14.8%) all sit closer to elite than average. That's who Perdomo is, through and through.

And while it has seemed, at times, that Perdomo's at-bats haven't been as patient or grinding, that has leveled off a bit of late. He saw 4.16 pitches per plate appearance in 2025, which ranked 19th in the majors, and that's climbed back up to 4.08 this season, which ranks 36th.

So Perdomo hasn't fundamentally lost what's made him great. He's also posted a .245 BABIP (batting average on balls in play), which could easily turn more in his favor as the season progresses.

Meanwhile, Perdomo is actually playing at a better defensive pace at shortstop than he was a year ago. He's been worth +2 Fielding Run Value, +4 Outs Above Average and +3 Defensive Runs saved. Barring a slew of errors or a downgrade in his defense, he should be able to surpass 2025's +4, +5 and +3 (in respective order).

Perdomo is also a vocal leader in the clubhouse, and has been manager Torey Lovullo's go-to infield captain, despite being still just 26 years old, even with some bumps in the road. The purpose of this evaluation is, in no way, to claim Perdomo's worth ends at the numbers in his slash line, or his RBI total.

In essence, the thesis of this article isn't quite as satisfying as it could be. To leave it at "wait and see" doesn't scratch the itch of an curiously unproductive three-hole hitter, but it truly is the best course of action with regard to Perdomo's output, with over two-thirds of a season left.

Perhaps a lineup adjustment should be made, or maybe Perdomo just needs a few good games in a row. What is quantifiable, however, is that the 26-year-old seems to be executing nearly piece of the puzzle around as well as he did last year. The results will either come, or they won't.

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