Cincinnati Reds: 2019 midseason grade for José Peraza

We’ve reached the midway point of the Cincinnati Reds’ season and it’s time to review the enigmatic José Peraza’s 2019 campaign.

The curious case of José Peraza. Who exactly is he? Is Peraza the player who hit .324 upon joining the Cincinnati Reds in 2016 and collected 182 hits last year? Or is he the player who has lost his starting position in both the 2017 and 2019 seasons?

To say José Peraza has had a disappointing start to the 2019 season is a gross understatement. Heading into the last week of Spring Training, it appeared Peraza was ready to open the season as the Reds starting shortstop where he made 152 starts last season.

However, that all came to a screeching halt once Scooter Gennett suffered a groin injury just days before the season opener. Since that time, the middle infield plan was blown up and Peraza has yet to recover.

Following Scooter Gennett’s injury, Reds manager David Bell inserted José Iglesias as the every day shortstop thus shifting José Peraza to second base. Peraza is no stranger to the position. He made 69 starts there during the 2017 season before losing his job to the hot-hitting Gennett.

Fast forward to 2019 and an eerily similar situation has emerged. Thorough April Peraza made 22 starts and hit just .202 with an abysmal .228 OBP. Once the calendar turned to May and Derek Dietrich started hitting homers all over Great American Ball Park, Peraza could only muster a .211 average. Even still, he raised his OBP to .309, in 17 starts and found himself again relegated to the bench.

Since losing his starting gig Peraza has made appearances at not only second base, but also shortstop and left and center field. Is this Peraza’s future? Keep in mind, Peraza is only a year older than Cincinnati Reds rookie phenom Nick Senzel.

José Peraza has not helped his cause in any way this season. He’s slashing .224/.277/.341 with 5 homers in 214 at-bats. Peraza’s never looked comfortable playing the outfield and looks timid on defense when playing outside the infield. Despite all the negatives Peraza has accumulated this year, there are signs of hope.

When facing left-handed pitching, Peraza has produced a .271/.328/373 slash line in 64 plate appearances. Peraza is also an above-average defender at second base. Throughout his career, he’s a +4 in defensive runs saved above-average and +2 in that category so far in 2019.

Given that Scooter Gennett, who is a -13 defender in defensive runs saved above-average in his career, it would make perfect sense to give Scooter the day off against difficult southpaws and give those at-bats to Peraza.

Speed is also an essential part of José Peraza’s game. Now that Billy Hamilton has left the Queen City, Peraza carries the mantle of being the fastest player on the team. Last year he swiped 23 bases in 29 attempts and has 72 steals in his Reds career. However, Peraza has yet to find refuge on the base paths in 2019. He’s been gunned down 4 times in 9 attempts on the season.

While I applaud the Cincinnati Reds desire to win every game and certainly Peraza has not helped his cause, it’s painful to see a 25-year-old who has produced on the biggest stage be reduced to a utility role. Nevertheless, if the Reds want to contend in the second half there are going to need the 2018 version of José Peraza in order to playing meaningful baseball games in September.