Yankees promote Oswald Peraza to replace injured star infielder

MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at New York Yankees
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The New York Yankees are placing Jazz Chisholm on the IL as they try and figure out the severity of his UCL injury, and they’ll be calling up Oswald Peraza in the meantime to fill out their roster. The 24-year-old infielder has a 94 wRC+ with the Scranton RailRiders but has caught fire as of late, hitting seven home runs in 21 games since the All-Star Break. He hasn’t had much Major League success, and the Yankees haven’t shown much of a willingness to play him either, but this could be a shot for him to earn some playing time with Chisholm on the IL and the rest of the infield struggling.

Across 70 Major League Games, he has a 73 wRC+ and three home runs, struggling to hit for much power or get on-base much either in that span.

Oswald Peraza Gets Another Shot With the Yankees Amid Jazz Chisholm Injury

MLB: New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals
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This season has been a weird one for Oswald Peraza, who got off to an abysmal start this season and looked dead in the waters offensively. Since the All-Star Break he’s been hitting the baseball with more authority, and perhaps that hot streak is finally the one that gets Peraza to where he needs to be offensively. Defensively and on the basepaths, the young infielder provides value on both fronts which is valuable.

With versatility to play second base, shortstop, and third base, the Yankees are likely going to have him rover around the infield and get reps when needed. He could also be used as a weakside platoon option, although his numbers against right-handed pitching this season are much better than his numbers against left-handed pitching. There’s no way to know for certain what the Yankees will do with Peraza while he’s up, but perhaps this is an indication that Jazz Chisholm’s injury could be a shorter-term situation.

MLB: New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox, jazz chisholm
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Jazz Chisholm is dealing with a UCL injury, which is scary since the implications there could mean a season-ending UCL reconstruction surgery. Given how great he’s been for the Yankees and how bad they’ve been at third base, it could alter their season dramatically if he were to miss that much time. By having Oswald Peraza come up, perhaps that means that this is a short-term issue as the Yankees may have gone with Caleb Durbin if they wanted to find an everyday option.

Based on the previous stints in the big leagues for Peraza, the Yankees view him for as a part-time player who can rover around the infield and give them some speed in a pinch. Maybe this hot streak has changed their view on Peraza and they think he’s an MLB-ready contributor, this is just speculation on my end on what it would indicate. The Yankees finish off a three-game set against the White Sox tonight as Will Warren gets the bump for his third Major League start.

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