With his recent offensive surge, Jhonny Peralta has placed himself right into the spotlight, whether he likes it or not.
He is being portrayed as a leader on the field, even if he is not one off of it. Currently, the quiet shortstop is on pace to hit .267/.311/.488 with 28 home runs, 84 RBI, 44 doubles, and 100 runs scored. All this is from a 26-year old who is about to enter his prime years.
These are great numbers for a shortstop, and they are arguably the best in the American League. Just look around: Michael Young may have the best all-around game, with some power, speed, and great average, but Peralta has the best OPS (.799) of all AL shortstops.
He also has more than double the amount of home runs than any other AL shortstops.
So why the urges by fans for the Indians to trade him, as pointed out by Ron Vallo in a recent article on MVN’s Tribe Report?
He does not have a huge contract that the Indians need to part with. He cannot make any demands over the next three seasons as he is in the midst of a five-year contract that skips his arbitration years.
He is due a very cost-effective $3.4 million next season, $4.6 million in 2010, and $7 million as a still not 30-year-old in 2011.
These are very reasonable numbers that a team such as Cleveland must utilize from at least a few of their top players in order to remain competitive.
So, if he can hit like the best at his position, is young, and does not have a big contract, then what is it?
This is where the big misconception comes in. Defense.
The perception is that Jhonny Peralta is one of the worst defensive shortstops in Major League Baseball. He is seen as a guy who can’t get to balls in the holes, loses focus, makes errors, has a sub-par arm, you name it. While some of these may be true to an extent, Peralta numbers show a different story.
He is by no means one of the top shortstops with the glove, we know that by watching him day in and day out, but does he really hurt the team?
Jhonny is currently 10th in the majors in fielding percentage (.979) by a shortstop, third in range factor (4.77), and 11th in zone rating (.831). We all know what fielding percentage is, but range factor and zone ratings are newer defensive statistics that are not yet mainstream to the average fan.
Range factor is a measure of chances that a defender has during a game. It is calculated as (Putouts X Assists X Nine)/Total Innings Defended
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