PITTSBURGH — The final result of the Yankees’ game against the Red Sox on Thursday night was mostly meaningless within the grand scheme of things.
But watching Oswald Peraza around the bases on his two-run home run within the ninth inning — more of a fired-up sprint with loads of emotion, including a fist pump — served as a reminder that there remains to be meaningful baseball to be played, especially for less-established players, equivalent to the rookie infielder.
A 12 months ago this month, Peraza was getting semi-regular playing time and making a case to be the Yankees’ starting shortstop this season.
This September, he’s newly back in the large leagues attempting to prove he can hit consistently and to determine where he suits within the Yankees’ future.
Fellow rookie Anthony Volpe has entrenched himself at shortstop, performing higher defensively than the Yankees expected, and he doesn’t appear prone to move off the position anytime soon.
So where does that leave Peraza?
Third base, second base, a mix of the 2, or eventually shortstop for one more team?
It’s a matter the Yankees are attempting to determine as they provide Peraza regular at-bats and starts at third base over the ultimate month of the season.
“You never know what’s going to shake out over the winter and what opportunities he takes advantage of, how your roster shakes out,” manager Aaron Boone said Friday before the Yankees’ 7-5 victory over the Pirates at PNC Park. “The one thing I can inform you is he’s a extremely talented defender, a extremely good shortstop, playing vital games straight away for him and his development, attempting to stake his claim somewhere. We’ll see the way it all shakes out. It’s been good to see him getting results currently and [Thursday] probably having his best day of at-bats.”
The 23-year-old Peraza, who brings an athleticism that the Yankees largely lack, prolonged his hitting streak to eight games with a ninth-inning single, giving him 16 hits over his last 11 games.
But Boone was especially pleased to see him drive the ball within the nightcap of the Thursday doubleheader against the Red Sox, ripping a double into the left field corner before crushing his first home run of the season over the Green Monster.
He identified that lots of Peraza’s hits before that had been balls that got through the infield, but Thursday night looked different.
“He’s able to that,” Boone said. “He’s able to driving the ball, hitting the ball with authority on a line. He’s strong, he’s got bat speed; working through things mechanically to get in higher striking position.”
If Peraza is in a position to prove he can drive the ball more consistently, it could go a good distance toward solidifying his future. At what position, though, stays to be seen.
Besides Volpe at shortstop, the Yankees have Gleyber Torres under contract for yet another 12 months at second base, and infielder DJ LeMahieu under contract through 2026.
The Yankees could trade Torres this offseason to open up a more definite spot for Peraza, however the rookie would should delay his end of the cut price.
“He’s gotta proceed to make adjustments,” Boone said. “He’s gotta proceed to tighten up his mechanics that allow him to ultimately be consistent. That’s the thing — can he get to that level to where it allows him to be an enormous league hitter? A giant league day-after-day offensive player?
“There’s absolute confidence in my mind defensively. There’s absolute confidence in my mind he has the offensive tools and physical tools to do this. But he’s going to should proceed to make adjustments as well.”
