Jose Peraza

Peraza has proven he can be an everyday player for a bad team and a bench player for any other team. The 2018 season for him was a clear outlier, but it happened and it cannot be completely ignored. Many things need to break his way for the playing time to open up after Peraza inked a minor-league deal with the Mets this winter. He remains a high-contact, impatient hitter at the plate who can still leg out singles off bad contact and steal bases when presented with opportunities. He has enough defensive chops to play three infield positions as needed, or even in the outfield in a pinch, making him the ideal bench player should the National League return to pitchers hitting. Peraza would be a decent fit to the Mets' bench as a defensive/pinch running tool, but he is only draftable in the deepest of NL leagues even if he makes the roster.

After a breakout season in 2018, Peraza gave back all of his gains at the plate and then some in 2019. A glance at his batted ball data reveals a sea of red flags. His exit velocity (84.6 mph), hard hit rate (31.9%) and Barrel/PA percentage (0.3%) were among the very worst in the league. Even his one skill that was expected to be a positive, his speed, turned mediocre -- he stole just seven bases, getting caught six times. It's no wonder that the Reds decided to non-tender him in December instead of going through the arbitration process. The Red Sox signed him to a one-year, $3 million deal, and he could conceivably win the starting job at second base, although he would almost assuredly be batting ninth in the order. His raw speed is still in the 75th percentile, but based on his 2019 season, we are skeptical he will get on base enough to really put that speed to work.

Peraza went from being a risk to lose his starting to job to being a top-10 fantasy shortstop in 2018, adding some power and nearly 30 points of batting average over his 2017 output. Was this breakout for real? The added homer total can mostly be attributed to a change in launch angle. His groundball rate fell from 48% in 2017 to 38.9% last year, and his launch angle on fastballs (which he hit 12 of his 14 homers against) improved from nine degrees to 13 degrees, according to Baseball Savant. That improved his barrel rate from 1.7% to 2.5%, and his average exit velocity improved from 81.9 mph to 83.9 mph. Relative to the rest of the league, however, he was still below average in that regard -- Peraza went from 273rd to 268th among MLB hitters. Peraza turns 25 in April, and improved power is expected at that this age, so some of this might be sustainable.

Many of the Reds' hitters provided a profit in 2017, but Peraza was a stark exception to the list. After hitting .324 with 21 stolen bases over the second half of 2016, many were brimming with anticipation of a 40-plus stolen base season following the Brandon Phillips trade, but Peraza failed to produce. He hit just .259/.297/.324 with 23 stolen bases and lost his full-time second base job to Scooter Gennett. Peraza hit marginally better in the second half of the season (.268/.333/.305) and maintained his shortstop eligibility, but all-in-all this was a disappointing season. He's expected to take over the starting shortstop duties for the Reds in 2018, with Zack Cozart joining the Angels in free agency, but the pressure will be on him to produce right away with Nick Senzel rapidly approaching. His development at shortstop and at the plate this offseason was halted early after he left his Venezuelan Winter League team for personal reasons.

The Reds split Peraza's season between Triple-A Louisville and Cincinnati, with the bulk of his time in the big leagues coming during the second half of the season. The overall production was better against the more difficult competition, as Peraza's contact-heavy approach (12.9 percent strikeout rate) and top-end speed enabled him to post an impressive line at the plate and on the bases in 72 games with Cincinnati. Once Billy Hamilton hit the disabled list in September, Peraza moved into the leadoff spot for his final 25 starts, but he slotted in as the team's No. 2 hitter directly behind Hamilton for a brief stretch in late August. In most leagues, Peraza qualifies as a shortstop and outfielder to begin 2017, and in some, he may also qualify at second base. Thanks to the deal that sent Brandon Phillips to the Braves over the offseason, the top prospect finally will have a full-time spot in the Reds lineup. With a full season's worth of starts, Peraza has the tools to push the 40-steal plateau in 2017.

After batting a combined .339/.364/.441 with 60 stolen bases between two minor league levels for the Braves a year ago, Peraza was viewed as Andrelton Simmons' future double-play partner, a future that was expected to begin sometime in 2015. The Braves, though, saw Peraza take a step back to .294/.318/.379 at Triple-A in 2015 before including him in a deal with the Dodgers. Peraza made his big league debut for the Dodgers on August 10 and hit .182 in 22 at-bats. Peraza doesn't turn 22 until late April, and though his stock is down, the Dodgers decided to sell anyway, trading him to the Reds in a three-way deal with the White Sox. The rebuilding Reds figure to get him regular playing time to determine what Peraza is as a player, though the albatross that is Brandon Phillips could complicate things at the start of the year.

The 20-year-old Peraza solidified his status as the Braves' top prospect by slashing .339/.364/.441 with 60 steals in 75 attempts between High-A Lynchburg and Double-A Mississippi in 2014. He drew a mere 17 walks in 499 plate appearances, but also struck out just 47 times (9.4%) and made major strides against left-handed pitching, batting a robust .379 against southpaws (41-for-108) after hitting just .268/.324/.361 against them in 2013. While Peraza currently possesses little home-run power to speak of, his plus-plus speed allows him to consistently grab extra bases and should afford him the luxury of maintaining high BABIPs at the upper levels. Alberto Callaspo seems like the favorite to open 2015 as the Braves' starting second baseman, but Peraza may push for the job relatively early on.