Yankees' Everson Pereira living the dream in leftfield
Everson Pereira of the Yankees looks on after the first inning against the Nationals at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Although the Yankees wouldn’t go so far as to verbally concede the season, the decision Tuesday to call up prospects Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza was clear sign of an organizational shift — championing development and evaluation in these final six weeks, likely at the expense of immediate success.
Pereira, who got the start in left and hit seventh Tuesday in his major-league debut against the Nationals, and Peraza, who manned third base and hit eighth, will be slotted in as everyday players, manager Aaron Boone said.
It’s a move that will likely sideline a few more-established pieces — most notably, super-utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was out of the starting lineup despite being one of the most productive hitters on the team this year.
“I guess there comes a point” where development becomes more important than a single victory, Boone said — stopping short of saying the Yankees were there already. “And look, we’re making a commitment to these guys that they’re going to be playing regularly, so that’s in there but we’re also hoping that, in the short-term, that’s something that serves us well in the beginning to win games…Hopefully, there’s a little bit of both in there.”
The Yankees entered the day in last place in the AL East, four games under .500, 9.5 games out of the final wild-card spot with four teams ahead of them, and making the playoffs is a long shot, to put it mildly.
Pereira, meanwhile, was slashing .312/.386/.551 in 35 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. A free-swinging, righthanded hitter with power to all fields, he had eight homers in Triple-A and 10 more in 46 games with Double-A Somerset. Pereira can play all three outfield positions, though the Yankees’ perpetual need for a leftfielder means that he’ll primarily slot in there, Boone said. (The 22-year-old, who struck out nearly 30% of the time in Triple-A, showed you really can’t predict baseball in his first MLB at-bat — he drew a full-count walk against Josiah Gray.)
"I'm literally feeling like I'm living in a dream right now," Pereira said after the game — one where he went 0-for-3 with the walk and an outfield assist in the 2-1 loss. "It's a beautiful experience for me. It's definitely not the result we were looking for tonight but it's hard to describe — great experience."
Peraza, who played well in 18 games with the Yankees last year but hit just .173 in 19 games with the big-league squad this season, was hitting .268 in Triple-A with 14 homers, 36 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 63 games.
Between the two call-ups, Anthony Volpe playing short, and Oswaldo Cabrera on the bench, Tuesday featured four rookies fully developed in the Yankees farm system — the group essentially growing up together.
“We’ve seen each other, we’ve played together in the minor leagues,” Pereira said through an interpreter. “It’s a special opportunity for us. We’re dreamers, you know? Our dream is right in front of us to get to the big leagues. Sharing the experience with those guys, understanding the game and the work they’ve [put in] in the minor leagues — I’m very happy and I’m sure it’s going to be an enjoyable experience.”
Pereira had his entire family at the ballpark Tuesday: his mother, father, two brothers and wife. He took early batting practice and chatted with the other rookies about what to do for roll call (he ended up mimicking a step-back jumper).
“I’m sure it’s going to be something that I’ve never felt in my life,” he said about two hours before first pitch. “I know it’s going to be unique — a very unique experience, so, looking forward to it.”
It will, though, just be a first step — something of which the Yankees are acutely aware. There’s no guarantee, either, that someone like Pereira — a young player with plenty of raw power who has routinely struggled with swing decisions — will easily adapt to major-league pitching. All of this means that the evaluation part of this whole thing might not necessarily look pretty. But, with a season in tatters, it’s a bargain the Yankees have to make.
“That’s part of that development and that next level,” Boone said of the high strikeout rate. In spring training, the Yankees saw him “start to lay off pitches out of the strike zone and that’s going to be a big separator potentially for him. Can he do that at a high level?...Can he continue to get better at that because he impacts the ball and can at all fields. He has power, too. He’s a good athlete.”
Also, it’s not like things can get much worse — not after Tuesday night's loss which made it a nine-game losing streak and their worst record in 30 years.
“Obviously, with us scuffling, it felt like those two were deserving of an opportunity, deserving of a look, and hopefully, it’s something that can kind of spark us in the short term,” Boone said. “But also, we get a look at two guys that we think can play an important role in our future, too.”
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
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