Atlanta Braves Mid-Season Prospect Reports

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Aug 10, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers player

Jose Peraza

(18) hits a triple against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this season, TomahawkTake published our list of the Top 20 prospects in the organization. A whole lot has transpired since that time – obviously – and we’re going to look at the progress each one has made this season.

This is not yet a new list – but a report of those who graced our last Top 20. While we clearly recognize that this early-2015 slate has been well overcome by events, it’s both good to review how things went for these players in addition to noting just how far the farm system has come in such a short time.

Our entire TomahawkTake staff contributed to this report.

1. Jose Peraza

Yeah, we know: he’s gone to the Dodgers. 1 for 4 in his major league debut last night (a triple), thanks in part to Bryce Harper‘s misplay (should have been either an out or a single, but I’m sure he’ll take it!). He also drew a walk – go figure!

Nonetheless, we’re still going to provide our assessment.

The Good:

Peraza has had no issue making contact this year, as evidenced by his .281 batting average. He’s also been successful on the basepaths, stealing 23 and only being caught 4 times, for an 85% success rate.

The No-So-Good:

More from Tomahawk Take

Peraza’s not taken to second base well, and by not well, we mean terribly, horribly bad. Peraza’s been tried in center field, and the casual fan may have assumed that was due to the strong play from Jace Peterson in Atlanta this season, but the organization may have simply seen that while his range at shortstop had him on the radar of every top list last offseason, the throw from second base has been a terrible bugaboo for him. Already this season, he has 12 errors, primarily throwing errors, in his 67 games at second base. Last season, between high-A and AA, he had a total of 10 errors in 99 games at second.

Even if the defense was solid, Peraza’s offensive game has not just stagnated, but he has taken a step back at the plate. He’s shown nearly no power this year with a .077 ISO and only a .026 OBP delta, so his entire offense is driven by his batting average right now, given a walk rate that’s been under 4% over the past 2 seasons.

The Stats:

Atlanta AAA: .294/.318/.379/.697 (96 games, 427 PA)
Los Angeles AAA: .385/.415/.590 (10 games, 42 PA)

Peraza was a 21 year-old at AAA, so certainly he’s not hurt by a tough year at the level, but the defense is more the concern right now. Peraza in April may have fetched the Braves a corner infield or outfield power bat (see: the Aaron Judge rumors, whatever level of truth there may have been to them), but right now a guy like Judge would require much more than just Peraza. So instead, he and Alex Wood were turned into Hector Olivera, which fulfilled needs for both clubs involved.

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