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Jose Peroza
Week: 6 G, 22 AB, .500/.560/.727, 11 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, 0/0 SB (High-A)
2022 Season: 115 G, 398 AB, .271/.356/.399, 108 H, 23 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 48 BB, 110 K, 4/5 SB, .351 BABIP (High-A)
Trained at Carlos Guillen’s academy in Venezuela, the Mets signed Jose Peroza to a $280,000 signing bonus on July 2, 2016, the first day of the 2016-2017 international free agent signing period, impressed by the raw power and arm strength that the 16-year-old possessed. Born on a farm outside of San Felipe in western Venezuela’s agriculturally rich Yaracuy region, Peroza was what you would ‘country strong’; fuerte de campo. With proper training, the organization hoped to harness that power an arm strength and develop other offensive and defensive tools around it.
Peroza made his professional debut in 2017 in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .291/.340/.417 in 62 games, and then was brought stateside and appeared in a few games at the end of the year for the GCL Mets. He spent the entire 2018 season with them, hitting a paltry .184/.253/.241 in 24 games. He began the 2019 season in the GCL, a third straight year that the young infielder was rostered in the Gulf Coast League but was promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones at the end of July after hitting .328/.389/.766 in 16 games. In 33 games in the dog days of summer for the eventual 2019 New York-Penn League champions, Peroza was not nearly as successful, hitting .225/.295/.369 in 33 games thanks to a 47.2% ground ball rate. After missing the 2020 season, he was assigned to the St. Lucie Mets, the organization’s Low-A affiliate, where he hit .274/.404/.443 in 64 games. He was promoted in August and returned to Brooklyn, as they were now the organization’s High-A affiliate. In 38 games, the 21-year-old struggled, hitting .218/.293/.384. He returned to Brooklyn in 2022 and has had a lot more success.
Listed at 6’1”, the 22-year-old is probably a few inches shorter. His listed weight of 220-pounds is probably accurate, though; Peroza is short, stocky, and big boned. He has a quiet set-up at the plate, with a wide base and his bat wrapped behind his head. He swings using a deep load, moderate leg kick, and a lot of upward plane.
Peroza’s bat speed is average and the raw power that he demonstrated as a teenager just has not really developed into usable in-game power. His sweet spot are pitches that are letter high, as those pitches allow him to get full extension on and pitches that his angular swing can connect with on the sweet spot and lift. He is able to hit balls over the fence during batting practice, but during in-game situations, he has shown an inability to get good wood balls, as he swings over too many pitches, resulting in a 40.9% ground ball rate and 36.6% fly ball rate, both poor batted ball results. Outside of the ground ball to fly ball ratios, Peroza has shown he has an idea at the plate. He draws a good amount of walks and does not strike out excessively. He uses the entire field and has an idea at the plate.
Defensively, Peroza has a strong arm and is currently capable of playing third base, but his range is already limited at this point in time, and he will likely lose additional mobility around the hot corner as he ages due to his body type, limiting him to first. The Mets have experimented with using him up the middle in 2022, giving him more time at second base and shortstop than in 2021, but in the limited innings I saw with him at second base, he would be better off staying at third base. His arm makes up for some of his limited range there but not enough to really make him viable in any long-term role.
Jeffrey Colon
Week: 1 G (1 GS), 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (High-A)
Season: 19 G (7 GS), 72.2 IP, 54 H, 23 R, 20 ER (2.48 ERA), 18 BB, 84 K, .278 BABIP (Single-A/High-A)
At no point did he pitch poorly per se, but Jeffrey Colon is certainly ending the 2022 season strong. In 47.1 innings with the St. Lucie Mets, Colon posted a 3.23 ERA, allowing 41 hits, walking 11, and striking out 57. Since being promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones in early August, he has a 1.07 ERA in 25.1 innings with 13 hits allowed, 7 walks, and 27 strikeouts.
As I discussed when he was pitcher of the week at the end of August, Colon’s changeup has interesting pitch characteristics. Upon further analysis, I believe that Colon throwing a two-seam fastball or split-finger fastball that is being misinterpreted and being lumped in with his changeups.
A splitter with a spin rate hovering around 2000 RPM is on the high end of the spectrum, but the speed and movement are in line with the normal characteristics of a splitter. A two-seam fastball with a spin rate hovering around 2000 RPM is in the sweet spot for that pitch, as is the velocity, but the amount of vertical drop it shows would be extremely high.
Regardless of what exactly the pitch is, it has certainly helped Colon dominate Single-A and High-A batters this season. With Brooklyn in the South Atlantic League playoffs, the right-hander should have a role be it starting or coming out of the bullpen as a fireman.
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