Cincinnati Reds’ infielder Jose Peraza continued to thrive as team floundered

The Cincinnati Reds had at least one bright spot heading down the stretch in utility player Jose Peraza.

The Cincinnati Reds had what was a mostly awful year in 2016, but Jose Peraza’s play was a bright spot.  He came over from the Los Angeles Dodgers and impressed in spring training.  Then he repeated the performance during the regular season.

Peraza was fifth on the team in spring training with 18 hits in 23 games.  He also led the Reds with 6 steals.  He also tied for the lead in runs scored despite only getting on-base at a .299 clip.  Peraza did not make the opening day roster.

Peraza did have some chances in the first half.  He played in 25 games for the Reds, but only batted .246, all singles.  He also had the paltry OBP of .278.  On the up side he was successful in all nine of his stolen base attempts.

In the second half, Peraza played in 47  games all over the diamond.  He was second on the team in steals behind Billy Hamilton.  Batting .355 with an OBP of .380, Peraza exploded on the scene after the deadline deal of Jay Bruce to the New York Mets.  The second half of the year he was fourth on the team in hits.

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Peraza was excelling while the Reds were having one of the most mediocre seasons in team history.

The Reds have one amazing stat that can’t be repeated too frequently in the off-season.  They were the worst team in all of baseball in 2016 vs. left handed starters.  They only had 14 wins all year against lefties.  The Reds only faced 34 southpaw starters all season long which trailed the Pittsburgh Pirates in fewest games started by a left-hander.  All season the Saint Louis Cardinals only had Jaime Garcia and the Chicago Cubs only had Jon Lester from the left side.  The Milwaukee Brewers went good stretches with all righties starting.

It’s the little things that matter too.  The Reds had the third fewest hits in the National League in the first half.  In the second half they had the second most hits in the NL.

The pitching also turned the corner.  In the first half of the season with Alfredo Simon in the rotation, the Reds gave up the third most runs in the NL.  In the second half of the season it improves to the fifth fewest hits allowed.

Next: Reds should be relegated to Triple A

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When Peraza came up the Reds improved a bit. More importantly, Peraza has continually improved since he got here.  If the Reds can improve as much as him, 2017 will be great.