Yankees' Oswald Peraza Dealing With leg Injury

This Yankees' top prospect has missed the last few Grapefruit League games due to injury.

Shortstop Oswald Peraza is dealing with a lower leg injury, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed on Monday night after a 9-2 win over the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.

Peraza suffered this injury in Thursday's win over the Pirates in Bradenton when he tweaked his leg while running through the first-base bag.

While Peraza played on Saturday, he has sat out the last two games in a row since.

“He kind of just hit the bag funny and his lower leg was bugging him a little bit,” Boone told reporters. “I don’t expect it to be an issue.”

The good news is that Peraza is tentatively scheduled to return on Thursday when the Yankees take on the Red Sox in Tampa.

With three weeks to go until Opening Day, Peraza's health is crucial as he is fighting for the starting shortstop job with Anthony Volpe, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Oswaldo Cabrera. Last year, Peraza was called up in September and showed promise, hitting .306 with a .833 OPS in 18 games.

In four Grapefruit League games, Peraza is 2-for-9. Kiner-Falefa is 1-for-9 with a bad error in Friday night's game. As for Volpe, he has shined on both sides of the ball, batting .353 with a 1.097 OPS in six games. He has also flashed the leather on numerous occasions on defense.

“I’ve seen a lot of things that I like but I also want it to just play out,” Boone said of the shortstop competition. “Right now I’m looking at it as I gotta get these guys ready for their season in the best possible way. As we get closer and closer and we start having those debates or those conversations in more earnest, we’ll do that.”

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