Red Sox: Why Jose Peraza is an important part of the lineup

Jose Peraza will be key to the Red Sox lineup this season.

Boston Red Sox offseason acquisition Jose Peraza will be a very important piece of the 2020 lineup.

The Red Sox signed Peraza as a free agent in December, and he’s in his sixth MLB season playing for his third team. Peraza spent most of his career in Cincinnati, as well as spending a short stint in Los Angeles with the Dodgers to start his career.

The Red Sox are really high on Peraza, and I am too. He started off his 2020 campaign with an impressive showing, going 4-5 with two doubles, two RBI’s, and two runs scored against the Orioles. His performance leveled out in the past three games, going 1-12, but he still has not struck out a single time.

Part of the reason why I like Peraza is because he has flown totally under the radar. I bet that most Red Sox fans didn’t even know who he was going into this season! But I’m all over him, and he’s going to be important for the Red Sox lineup, so you should get to know Jose Peraza.

Peraza hits like a classic second basemen. He gets singles, gets on base, doesn’t have much power, and also doesn’t strike out a lot. He’s nothing special, but has the ability to be a .300 hitter with a .320+ OBP.

Peraza had a poor 2019 with a .239/.285/.346/.631 slash line. But, in 2018, he had a great year for a guy his caliber, slashing .288/.326/.416/.742. He was top 50% in OBP in MLB, and as a secondary guy in the potent Red Sox lineup, he’s important for depth.

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In the National League in 2018, he was 1st in Singles, 4th in Hits, and 1st in AB per SO. If Peraza turns back into his 2018 self, and can just get singles and get on base, he could be a great addition to this lineup.

Since Dustin Pedroia played his last season in 2017, Red Sox second basemen have been poor hitters. In 2018, second basemen hit .252, 3rd worst on the team. The story was the same in 2019, when second basemen hit .249, also 3rd worst on the team. To add on to that, OBP and SLG for second basemen were worst on the team in 2019 as well. Peraza could begin to fill the hole that Pedroia left, which Michael Chavis clearly hasn’t been able to do in his young career.

I’m an advocate for Peraza to be in one of two positions- either deep in the lineup (7, 8, or 9), or leadoff.

I’ll start with the leadoff position. Andrew Benintendi is not the guy. Since September 1 of last year, Benintendi is 10-for-77 (.130) with just 3 XBH and 18 K’s. Not great. He is also not good out of the leadoff position with a .268/.357/.454/.811 slash line. Also, as a first batter of the game he is .177/.282/.274/.556.

Peraza should have a shot here. He batted leadoff the other night but was 0-for-4. Career-wise though, he is hitting .280/.320/.389/.709 from the leadoff spot, so I can see him there at least for a few games.

If Peraza isn’t in the leadoff spot, he should be at the bottom of the lineup. The Red Sox have been bad at the bottom of the lineup in recent years. The bottom three batters hit .236 in 2019 and .225 in 2018. That typically consisted of Jackie Bradley Jr., Sandy Leon/Christian Vazquez, and Chavis. In my mind, and the mind of the opposing pitcher, that’s three automatic outs. With Peraza slated in the bottom three, that could improve the depth of the lineup, and Peraza will be no automatic out, as he rarely strikes out.

Although under appreciated by many, I believe Jose Peraza will have a good 2020 campaign and be an important factor in the Red Sox lineup, either in a leadoff position that the Red Sox can’t seem to figure out, or to add depth to the back end of the lineup.