The Tampa Bay Rays added some help to their injury-plagued outfield mix on Saturday, acquiring veteran David Peralta from the Diamondbacks in return for Minor League catcher Christian Cerda.
35 years old next month, Peralta had spent all nine seasons of his Big League career with Arizona. The southpaw-hitting outfielder has produced a solid .248 BA/.316 OBP/.460 SLG/.776 OPS batting line this season with a 110 wRC+, slugging 12 homers, legging out 19 doubles and a pair of triples over 310 plate appearances. While he’s striking out at a career-high 23.9% rate, he’s drawing walks at an 8.7% rate — a percentage point higher than his career mark.
He also has been on an offensive upswing against right-handed hurlers since May 2nd, producing a .287 BA/.340 OBP/.536 SLG/.876 OPS line, with a .346 xwOBA, and a 90.9 mph average exit velocity — good for a 137 wRC+. Yet, those numbers increase dramatically when he faces right-handers throwing gas (95+ mph), with Peralta slashing .386 BA/.449 OBP/.682 SLG/1.131 OPS, with a .479 wOBA, and a 94.4 mph average exit velocity. That being said, he’s long been ineffective against left-handed pitching, batting just .114 BA/.261 OBP/.200 SLG/.461 OPS against southpaws this season. That is to say Tampa Bay presumably will shield him from left-handers as much as possible.
Peralta is a solid platoon bat with above-average defensive ratings in the corners. This season, he was used primarily in left field, although Tampa Bay might try him in right, given Randy Arozarena’s presence in left. Whatever the case, he’ll give the Rays a much-needed outfield bat to plug into the lineup following injuries to Manuel Margot, Kevin Kiermaier, and Harold Ramirez.
There are also signs that the Rays might not be done wheeling and dealing either. As Ben Whitelaw (RBLR Sports) pointed out, the fact that Tampa Bay designated a Triple-A farmhand, but still needs to make room on the active roster for Peralta, could be a sign that moves could be made ahead of the trade deadline Tuesday. Otherwise, Tampa Bay could have kept Perdomo and optioned Josh Lowe or Luke Raley, or designated Roman Quinn for assignment since he is out of options. Put differently, buckle up, things could get exciting the next few days.