Yankees fans who hoped to see the team play more of their top players are in luck.
After Monday night it was reported that the Yankees outfielder calls Everson Pereira (ranked as Yankees’ No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline) and infielder Oswald Peraza (who entered the club’s number 2 last season), manager Aaron Boone confirmed the news and told the Talking Yanks podcast crew that both players “will play a lot.”
According to Boone, Pereira will start Tuesday-evening’s game against the Washington Nationals in leftfield. He also said that while Peraza will primarily play at third base, on days when that is the case, he may also get some time at shortstop and second base. Anthony Volpe And Gleyber Torres do not start.
Peraza, 23, has already gotten a taste of action in the big leagues. He played in 18 matches in 2022 and 19 earlier this season, filling in for injured players. Overall, Peraza dropped .238/.364/.307 with one home run, eight RBI and five runs scored as a big leaguer.
Pereira, 22, will make his MLB debut on Tuesday. Signed as an international talent from Venezuela in 2017, Pereira can play in all three outfield spots and brings a combination of contact and power to the board. During his five years in the Yankees system, Pereira has lowered .279/.353/.501 with 56 home runs and 205 RBI.
But even with this influx of young talent, Boone says the team’s focus on winning and making the playoffs hasn’t changed.
“It doesn’t change for me and for us. We all want to win,” said Boone. “So the fact that some young lads are getting started and definitely playing regularly doesn’t change what that target is. Obviously it hasn’t happened at a high enough level so far, so we want to make that commitment.” to see if it hopefully shocks us in the short term and gives us more wins in the short term, but also allows us to look at some guys who have the opportunity to become key players in our future.
“The focus on how we tackle it won’t change, as long as we want to win tonight. That’s the goal.”
Boone also hinted that the Yankees would call up more young players before the end of the season. While he didn’t say that specifically Jason Dominguez — recently promoted to Triple-A — would be called by the majors, but Boone did say it’s “possible” that Dominguez will be in the Bronx by the end of the year.
