Jace Peterson Has Filled Black Hole At 2B For Braves
By John Buhler
When the Atlanta Braves received 2B Jace Peterson from the San Diego Padres in the Justin Upton trade, I figured that the Braves got a player that could platoon with Phil Gosselin at second until phenom prospect Jose Peraza was ready to come up from AAA Gwinnett in September. Peterson impressed Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez enough during spring training that he won the starting 2B job over Gosselin, Kelly Johnson, and Alberto Callaspo.
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Second base has been one of two Achilles’ heels for the Atlanta ball club these last few seasons, the other being centerfield. Atlanta has looked for consistent production at second since trading away Martin Prado and Omar Infante a few years back. Braves Country knows that anything is an improvement over Dan Uggla’s underwhelming play in Atlanta. But has Jace Peterson filled the black hole at second base in the Atlanta lineup?
Since moving down in the order on April 27th, Peterson has raised his batting from .182 to .293. He has hit safely in 12 of 14 games since batting seventh for the Braves, including 7 multi-hit games. His defense looks better, too, as he is playing between a plus-defender at first in Freddie Freeman and the best defensive player in all of baseball Andrelton Simmons at short. Peterson has shown great range defensively at second for the Braves. His athleticism is clear as he played on the defensive side of the ball for McNeese State’s football team in college.
Is Peterson getting better pitches to hit now that he is down in the Braves’ batting order? Or has Jace made the necessary adjustments as a big leaguer should under Braves Hitting Coach Kevin Seitzer’s watch? Probably a bit of both. Outside of the Braves’ 1-2-3 hitters, Peterson has performed the most consistently as of late without much protection in the lineup.
With Jose Peraza waiting in the wing up 316 in Gwinnett County, Peterson may not stay on as the Braves’ second baseman of the future. If Jace Peterson continues to swing the bat well, driving the ball with authority to all parts of the field, President of Baseball Operations John Hart doesn’t need to rush Peraza to the Majors. Both middle infielders are good athletes. Maybe Peterson and Peraza aren’t mutually exclusive baseball entities? One could learn to become a Major League outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, right?