Everson Pereira has been a Yankee for exactly one week and what I’ll say next will shock you:
He’s exactly where he needs to be in his development.
Yes, you read that correctly. Everson Pereira, who has hit .107 with a .3336 OPS with 11 strikeouts and just one walk in seven games, is just fine. Three-for-28 with one extra base hit.
Read my lips. Right. On. Track.
First, it’s easy for Yankees fans to get excited about prospects. Pereira hit a clean .300 in the minors this year and showed solid power with 17 home runs. Launching a 476-foot tank shot shortly before his promotion only fueled that excitement.
Everson Pereira hit this ball 110.2 MPH and 476 feet. The New York Yankees decided he can't help him in left field. #NYY pic.twitter.com/smUPE8rGiR
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) August 19, 2023
Except how quickly we forget how rare it is to make that seamless transition from Triple-A to MLB. It’s still an adjustment from facing pitchers trying to crack a roster to facing well-established arms. Just ask Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson, who was baseball’s top prospect last year. He hit .259 in a month with the big league club last year, but still hit only .201 through May this year.
Now, he’s batting a respectable .251 with 22 home runs.
Or how about Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who made the rare immediate impact of hitting a home run in his first MLB at-bat? He hit .179 with four home runs in 27 games in 2016 and missed the last two weeks of the season with an oblique injury. Safe to say, he’s rewarded the Yankees for their patience.
Nobody is immune to growing pains, not even Everson Pereira.
To say nothing of how Triple-A pitching in 2023 has been, in a word, subpar. It’s been so hitter-friendly to the point of almost resembling the KBO.
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The league’s best-pitching team? That would be the Brewers-affiliated Nashville Sounds and their 4.39 team ERA. Following them are Baltimore’s Norfolk Tides and their 4.57 ERA. Or how about the Braves’ own Gwinnett Stripers and their 5.23 mark, which rounds out the Top 10?
Seven games is not a strong sample size. And even then, Pereira is doing what he should be doing even if he’s not yielding results. He’s struck out a lot, but he’s also made 53.3% hard contact. He only has one extra base hit, but his BABIP is also .200. Bad luck and a 53.3% groundball rate (GB%) will do that.
Throw in handling his spot in left field well, and Pereira is simply adjusting to major league pitching. He’s 22 years old and has plenty of time to find his way. The Yankees have been and should continue to be patient with him as he learns the ropes. In doing so, that patience could be handsomely rewarded in 2024.
Follow ESNY on Twitter @elitesportsny
