The New York Yankees made the long overdue decision to bring up star shortstop prospect Oswald Peraza to the major leagues on Thursday night.
Despite the player not being in Friday’s lineup in one of the most puzzling decisions ahead of a crucial game you will ever see, he is expected to play a role in some form during the evening.
The Yankees saw their lead in the AL East division, once 15.5 games, shrink to just six: if the Tampa Bay Rays sweep, they will be just three games behind.
Peraza, MLB Pipeline’s number 53 prospect and the third-best in the Yankees’ system, is ready to contribute.
He chose a rather unusual number to wear during his stint with the Yanks this year: 91.
A Rather Unique Number Choice
There aren’t many players with that number on their backs over the history of the game.
“Oswald Peraza will become the seventh player in MLB history to wear #91. The only other Yankee to wear the number was Alfredo Aceves, who pitched two scoreless innings in the 2009 World Series,” Talkin’ Yanks tweeted.
Oswald Peraza will become the seventh player in MLB history to wear #91
The only other Yankee to wear the number was Alfredo Aceves, who pitched two scoreless innings in the 2009 World Series pic.twitter.com/eLLpEUrXT0
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 2, 2022
If Peraza’s decision to use number 91 results in another World Series title, the Yankees should ask him to keep it forever.
All kidding aside, Peraza did more than enough to deserve a promotion.
Over the course of the season with the Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, he hit .259/.329/.448 with 19 homers and 33 stolen bases.
Those numbers are far and away better than what Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the Yankees’ starter, did in MLB.
Over his last 53 games, the 22-year-old phenom hit 14 round-trippers, stole 22 bases, and had a .942 OPS.
He is ready for prime time, and the Yankees shouldn’t keep him on the bench.
