With the recent call-ups of Oswald Peraza and Everson Pereira, the Yankees appear fully committed to giving the young players an extended run of playing time, regardless of their success on the field.
And the club’s recent transactions – releasing underperforming veteran third baseman Josh Donaldson, placing outfielder Harrison Bader, a free-agent-to-be this offseason, on waivers and releasing from the 40-man roster RHP Spencer Howard – they are clearing room to potentially give a few more prospects a taste of life at the MLB level.
And the results have been hard to come by for the Yanks’ two young Venezuelans.
Peraza, 23, who had a sensational 18-game debut last season batting .306 with a .832 OPS, failed to find his footing in the early goings after starting the season at Triple-A, with six hits in 32 at-bats in 12 games over April and early May. And he fared no better during a seven-game stretch after being called up again in July with three hits in 20 at-bats.
After being called up again, likely for the rest of the season last week, he has just two hits over 23 at-bats with eight strikeouts. Pereira, 22, has similarly struggled since the Aug. 22 call-up with just three hits in 28 at-bats (.107) and 13 strikeouts to three walks in his first eight big league games.
But with the 2023 season going nowhere fast (entering Wednesday night the 64-68 Yanks were 11 games out of the AL Wild Card race) results and instant success matter less than hitting internal benchmarks and sometimes, simply looking the part of a major league player. And that might be the case for Pereira, especially, the No. 3 prospect in the organization and No. 79 in baseball, per MLB Pipeline.
“I’ve seen some at-bats where he’s been a little bit overmatched where the pitchers kinda had his way and kinda worked him over a little bit,” Boone told the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast on Tuesday afternoon. “But within those, I also feel like he processes it well and makes some adjustments.”
The skipper added that he believes Pereira’s “swing really has a chance to play cause he can really impact the ball the other way it’s kinda that inside-out.”
“And I don’t feel like he’s been overwhelmed by anything, even some games where he’s had a few at-bats in a row where he’s kinda struggled and looked a little confused,” Boone added. “I feel like he’s processed it all well and I’m excited to see him play regularly here the rest of the way and to see what he can do and hopefully start to gain some traction.”
Jasson Domínguez is another player who might get fast-tracked to the majors this September as The Athletic's Brendan Kuty reported that the organization has held internal conversations about promoting the promising young outfielder once rosters expand to 28 on Friday. And those talks have reportedly gone all the way up to owner Hal Steinbrenner.
Dominguez spent 109 games with Double-A where he had batted .254 with a .781 OPS and 19 doubles and 15 home runs. The 20-year-old was recently promoted to Triple-A where he has 12 hits in his first 27 at-bats (.444) including two doubles and a triple.
Boone said Dominquez, the Yanks’ No. 2 prospect and No. 78 overall prospect, and his progress "is definitely something we're following," while calling him getting going at Triple-A "an important step."
The manager added: "He's definitely at least keeping the conversation going there about how we want to approach the end of the season.”
Kuty also noted that the organization has held internal discussions about catching prospect Austin Wells, 24, who has slashed .262/.355/.467 for an .822 OPS in 32 games this season at Triple-A.