Oswald Peraza

Peraza was hit by a 95-mph fastball in the sixth inning, and though he stayed in to run, he was replaced by Adam Frazier the following inning.

Peraza takes a seat after being involved in an awkward collision with teammate Jo Adell in shallow right field during Monday’s series opener. It’ll be Nick Madrigal taking over at second base in his absence.

Peraza had started the last five games, mostly against right-handed starters, at second base. Adam Frazier will pick up a start on a getaway day. Peraza is hitting .271/.340/.451 with six homers and five steals. He’s been a bit of a find as a reclamation project by the Angels so far this year.

Peraza was the awkward hero tonight. With runners on first and second and one out in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, he hit a weak line-drive one-hopper right to the second baseman for what looked like a particularly easy double play. Justin Foscue, though, bobbled the ball while taking it out of his glove after touching second and made a poor throw that Jake Burger couldn’t handle at first. As the ball bounced away from Burger, Jo Adell scored from second, creating a strange end to a fun pitcher’s duel. It went as a forceout and an error on Foscue, though Burger definitely deserved a share of the blame as well.

Peraza’s homer was a two-run blast off Eric Lauer to give the team a 2-1 lead in the fifth. It’s been a strong start to the year for the former Yankee, as he entered Sunday with a wRC+ 22 percent better than league average. He hasn’t been a regular in the lineup lately, however, as Vaughn Grissom, Yoan Moncada, and Adam Frazier factor in for playing time at second and third base.

Peraza was the hero with an RBI single to score Adam Frazier to give the Angels the win in the bottom of the 10th. He also doubled and singled in the contest. The former upper-echelon prospect in the Yankees’ system has enjoyed his new surroundings, and is now slashing .295/.361/.489 on the campaign. It’s very plausible — but far from a guarantee — that this is the breakout campaign.

Peraza got the start at third base with the opposing left-handed pitcher on the mound. He knocked a base hit in the fifth inning and scored the Angels’ first run on a sacrifice fly. He added another hit in the seventh before he was pinch-hit for in the ninth against a right-hander. With Jorge Soler back from suspension, Peraza seems ticketed for a short-side platoon role despite hitting .292/.361/.538 with four homers and three steals across 65 at-bats.

Peraza didn’t start the first game of the four-game series against his old team, but he went 5-for-10 with two homers, three walks and two steals over the last three games, putting him at .269/.345/.558 for the season. It looked like he’d lose much of his playing time with Vaughn Grissom back, but the Jorge Soler suspension has helped him out the last two days. There should be plenty of starts available for both with Yoán Moncada needing his days off and Adam Frazier still being Adam Frazier.

Peraza was out of the lineup three of the previous four games, including on Monday even though he homered in his start Sunday. This pushes him up to .267/.327/.511 for the season, which should put him back in line for more playing time at the expense of Adam Frazier and Vaughn Grissom.

Peraza sat in favor of Adam Frazier against a righty on Friday. Today, it’s Grissom getting the nod against a lefty. None of it bodes well for Peraza, who followed up a hot spring with a mediocre start to the season; he’s batting .216/.275/.351 in 41 plate appearances after starting 11 of the Angels’ first 13 games.

Peraza’s homer was not exactly shellacked and only would have been a homer in Wrigley Field or Daikin Park, but he was playing in the latter, so it went out. The 25-year-old is getting a chance to be the everyday second baseman, and it’s worth noting that he was considered a top prospect not all that long ago. A breakout season certainly isn’t likely, but it’s not out of the question.

There had been some thought that Adam Frazier would start against most right-handed pitchers to begin the season, but with the Astros starting Hunter Brown, it will be Peraza who gets the first start. Peraza was once a top prospect in the Yankees’ system, but lost a spring training battle to Anthony Volpe years ago and was never able to get consistent at-bats after that. However, he hit .315 with two home runs and six steals in 57 plate appearances this spring and is worth keeping an eye on in fantasy leagues. The rest of the Angels’ lineup is: Zach Neto SS, Mike Trout CF, Nolan Schanuel 1B, Jorge Soler DH, Yoan Moncada 3B, Jo Adell RF, Josh Lowe LF, Logan O’Hoppe C, and Oswald Peraza 2B.

With Vaughn Grissom on the IL and temporarily out of the mix, the Angels will have Adam Frazier and Peraza split time at second base initially. Although Frazier is a lefty and Peraza is a righty, it won’t be a straight platoon initially, which is good. We don’t know that Peraza will turn out to be a quality option, but we can be pretty well sure that Frazier won’t be.

At first glance, it seems like that arrangement favors Frazier since the veteran hits left-handed while Peraza hits right-handed. However, Peraza went 16-for-51 (.314) this spring with two home runs and six steals with a 47.5 percent hard-hit rate, while Frazier went 9-for-32 (.281) with no home runs, one steal, and a 33.3 percent hard-hit rate. Frazier has also had a negative outs above average at second base in two of the last three seasons. It makes more sense for Peraza to be given a shot at the job, and maybe he’ll win it over the first few weeks of the season.

While his out-of-options status helps his case, Peraza is in a fight to make the Angels as a utilityman this spring. He’s impressed thus far, hitting .320/.370/.720 with four steals in 27 plate appearances. It probably still doesn’t mean much, but coming into this year, Peraza had hit .152 with one homer in 64 career spring training games.