Yankees' Oswald Peraza Smacks Three Hits in Yankee Stadium Debut
NEW YORK — Wednesday afternoon featured quite a few firsts for Yankees prospect Oswald Peraza.
The 22-year-old was penciled into the starting lineup at Yankee Stadium for the first time, hearing his first roll call in the Bronx, albeit from a sparse crowd in the first game of a doubleheader.
As he stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third inning for his first at-bat in pinstripes, the shortstop checked off another first, ripping a double down the left-field line.
It was his first big-league hit, a 101.1-mph line drive into the corner off Twins starter Louie Varland, who was making his MLB debut.
To make Wednesday even more memorable, Peraza added two more knocks later in the game—a bloop single and a hard ground ball both to the opposite field—along with a barehanded play at shortstop.
Peraza is the first Yankee to record at least three hits in a game within his first four career games since Garrett Cooper accomplished the feat in 2017, also against Minnesota.
"He did a nice job," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after New York's 5-4 win in 12 innings. "Obviously a few hits, so that was good to see. Get his first one out of the way with a good ringing double down the line there. So yeah, I thought he handled himself well ... He'll be back in there tonight."
Peraza did in fact get the start at shortstop in Game 2 of the doubleheader. That said, this isn't an indication Peraza has leapfrogged Kiner-Falefa on New York's depth chart. Asked if he plans to use Kiner-Falefa at third going forward—the position where the infielder won a Gold Glove Award in a Rangers uniform two years ago—Yankees manager Aaron Boone said "not necessarily." Starting third baseman Josh Donaldson landing on the paternity list on Wednesday played a role as well.
"Who thought we'd be in this position a couple of days ago," Boone said on Wednesday morning. "Anything's on the table, certainly, but I haven't talked with Josh yet. Got a middle of the night text that I woke up to that they were going to the hospital and stuff so we'll see when he's back and obviously how that affects things."
As of Wednesday, Boone was unsure exactly how long Donaldson will be out.
Boone added that he spoke with Kiner-Falefa about the position switch.
"He was like, 'wherever you need me, I just want to win. I'm ready to do anything,'" Boone recalled. "So I gave him a heads up this morning. I called him and said [he'll start at] third today and he was like, 'let's go.'"
Considering the Yankees chose not to sign a big-name shortstop this offseason, keeping the spot open for one of their top prospects as a long-term solution, the best option for New York would be to give Peraza as much playing time as possible. Keeping him on the bench in the big leagues would risk stunting his development.
If Wednesday afternoon was any indication, the prospect is more than capable of providing a spark on both sides of the ball at this level and on this stage. With Kiner-Falefa's recent defensive woes at shortstop, Donaldson's struggles and Peraza's offensive ceiling—he hit 19 home runs with a .777 OPS in 99 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this year—it'll be hard for Boone to keep Peraza off the field going forward.
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