Everson Pereira, Oswald Peraza and Austin Wells . . . why not bring them up and play them?
The Yankees' Oswald Peraza hits a two-run single against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium on July 23, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Yankees fans finally got what they have been clamoring for on Friday night: a lineup against the Red Sox that included top prospects Everson Pereira, Oswald Peraza and Austin Wells.
No, wait. That was Yankees Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s lineup against the Worcester Red Sox.
The big-league Yankees? They went with the same sad-sack cast of characters against the Boston Red Sox in the opener of the three-game series in the Bronx.
The Yankees came home on a five-game losing streak after a 2-7 road trip. They were one game below .500 at 60-61, were in last place in the AL East and needed to sweep the series just to move into a tie with Boston for fourth.
So what did Yankees fans get to see? More of the same, with the order slightly altered.
Did the Yankees not notice they were shut out in the previous two games in Atlanta, or that they went 5-for-55?
They fell behind 7-0 after 1 1⁄2 innings en route to an 8-3 loss Friday, their sixth straight defeat, and dropped seven games out of the third wild-card spot.
They also missed an opportunity to change the conversation from their moribund offense and their dwindling wild-card chances by giving one, two or maybe even three of their top prospects a chance to show what they can do in the majors.
Young players always inject life into a clubhouse. And even if they fail . . . how is that worse than what is happening now?
This would not be a surrender move. It would be a realization that doing the same thing game after game after dreadful game for three-quarters of the season has simply not worked.
Pereira, 22, has been the name most on the lips of frustrated Yankees fans lately. A natural centerfielder, he has hit a combined .298 with 16 home runs and an .894 OPS between Double-A and Triple-A (all stats going into Friday).
Here’s a crazy idea: Call up Pereira and play him in the black hole that has been leftfield. Pereira is on the 40-man roster, so the transaction could be as simple as swapping him out for little-used Oswaldo Cabrera.
Yankees fans are familiar with Peraza. The club thought highly enough of the 23-year-old to start him at shortstop in an ALCS game last season. But Peraza has gotten only 52 at-bats in the majors in 2023. At Triple-A, he’s batting .259 with 13 home runs and an .811 OPS.
Bring up Peraza and use him in an infield rotation with Gleyber Torres, Anthony Volpe and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Stick with it until you get a sense of just what kind of big-league player Peraza might be.
Wells, a lefthanded-hitting catcher, is the most raw of the three. He’s not a polished backstop and has only 83 at-bats at Triple-A. But the 24-year-old has prodigious power, as shown on Wednesday when his first Triple-A home run traveled an estimated 473 feet.
And how about this stat for a catcher: In his minor-league career, Wells has stolen 39 bases without being caught. Wouldn’t it be nice to say hello to someone with that level of athleticism?
Wells is not on the 40-man roster, but organizations always make too much of that, as if every player on the 40-man is precious. Wells could easily be added in place of Greg Allen, who as a pinch runner/outfield defensive replacement is a luxury the Yankees can live without.
Aaron Boone was asked about Pereira and Wells.
“Those guys are obviously knocking on the door,” he said. “Those are guys that are pushing their way into the conversation. So we’ll see.”
Seriously, the Yankees have no more moves left to wake up the bats. The hitting coach was fired. The trade deadline came and went without any additions. Boone’s big maneuver on Friday was to hit Jake Bauers third against Boston righthander Brayan Bello.
Babe Ruth. Joe DiMaggio. Mickey Mantle. Jake Bauers.
It’s highly unlikely the Yankees will win enough games in the next six weeks to erase their seven-game deficit in the wild-card race. Not having their first losing season since 1992 would be a decent step forward.
“It’s obviously been a tough year for us,” Boone said. “Got about a quarter of the way to go. That’s a lot of baseball left.”
All the more reason to bring up the kids and see what they’ve got. We’ve already seen what the current Yankees have, and it ain’t much.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.