Yankees calling up prized prospects Everson Pereira, Oswald Peraza
The kids are coming.
Sources confirmed Monday a pair of the Yankees’ top prospects — outfielder Everson Pereira and infielder Oswald Peraza — are being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in time for Tuesday’s series opener against Washington.
The moves likely won’t be the last by the Yankees, who are looking to perhaps provide a jolt to the lineup that has the team in last place in the AL East, as well as take a look at who might be able to help next season.
Pereira will be making his MLB debut, while it will be a return to the majors for Peraza.
And however the Yankees finish up what’s been a dreadful season, sources also indicated that a close look at the entire organization will be conducted after the season, with jobs potentially in peril.
That’s no surprise, with the Yankees on pace for their first sub-.500 season since 1992 and first last-place finish since 1990.
Included in those conversations are expected to be Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya, two former longtime general managers who joined the Yankees last offseason, hired by general manager Brian Cashman.
Both Sabean and Minaya are known for their roots in scouting, as the Yankees have been criticized for an over-reliance on analytics in recent years.
Whatever mixture the Yankees have hasn’t worked this season, and the team’s struggles date back more than a year.
Not only have they lost eight straight, but their record since opening last season 61-23 and 15 ½ games up in the division is just 98-104 heading into Tuesday’s series opener against the Nationals in The Bronx.
The lack of results caused even the ever-optimistic Aaron Boone to say Sunday the Yankees would have to be “unbelievable the rest of the way” to make something out of this season.
As for who the Yankees are looking to for help from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pereira is the team’s third-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
The 22-year-old outfielder began the season with Double-A Somerset and has hit even better since being promoted to SWB.
In 158 plate appearances at Triple-A, Pereira has an OPS of .937.
He’s one of a handful of players at SWB who’s been on a hot streak, having reached base eight times in his previous three games.
Pereira could be plugged into left field, where the Yankees have gotten some of the worst production in the majors for most of the last two seasons, other than Andrew Benintendi’s brief stop there last year before a wrist injury ended his tenure in The Bronx.
Peraza had two brief appearances with the Yankees this season, but was unable to replicate his success on offense that he showed down the stretch in 2022.
Peraza, like Pereira, is on the 40-man roster and has produced since being at SWB, coming off back-to-back three-hit games.
Another prospect hitting well at Triple-A is catcher Austin Wells.
The team’s first-round pick out of Arizona in 2020 hit three homers and drove in 10 runs over his last two games at SWB.
Wells, 24, has also seen better production at SWB than he did at lower levels earlier in the season, but would have to be added to the 40-man roster if he is called up.
The Yankees have struggled behind the plate for most of the season and especially since Jose Trevino was lost for the year with a wrist injury.
Kyle Higashioka is in the midst of a typical season for him and is valued for his experience, but Ben Rortvedt has not hit at the major league level, though he has worked well with ace Gerrit Cole behind the plate.
YES Network was first to report the call-ups.
— Additional reporting by Jon Heyman
