Could Geraldo Perdomo be a Third Base Option for the Diamondbacks?

Torey Lovullo addressed this question on Sunday. We look at this in the context of Kevin Newman's emergence and Eugenio Suarez' slump.

Sep 19, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (2) fields a ball in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Geraldo Perdomo is nearing his return from a right knee meniscus tear that required surgery on April 8th. The 2023 All Star shortstop has been fielding ground balls, taking live batting practice, and running at near 100%. This past week, he was also seen taking ground balls at third base.

With a looming roster crunch upon his return and a slumping Eugenio Suarez, that elicited the natural questions to Lovullo about his future plans at the hot corner and if they involved Perdomo. While Lovullo made clear last week that Perdomo will be the starting shortstop, his answer about the third base question revealed further some of his thinking.

"Being versatile, being able to move around the infield, gives me some flexibility, depending on the particular matchup, swinging the bat well. I'm not going to say he's going to be over there, but I like to know that he can do it if there is a reason for it."

In fact Lovullo pointed out that Perdomo played some third base last year. He started three games at the hot corner and was inserted into the game as a late inning replacement 13 times. All of those starts came after Jordan Lawlar was called up. In total Perdomo logged 42 innings and had 12 chances without an error.

His defensive runs saved even registered +2 in that limited sample. With such limited playing time the metrics are not a reliable way to evaluate him at the position, but the simple fact that the team was able to use him there last year and is considering it again this year is significant.

Other than just contingency planning, the two primary factors that are in play here are the emergence of Kevin Newman as a reliable option at shortstop and the ever concerning slump of Eugenio Suarez.

Despite making a costly error in Sunday's game, Newman has been a steady and sometimes spectacular presence at shortstop since Perdomo went on the injured list. As a result he wrestled the playing time away from Blaze Alexander due to his superior defense.

It hasn't hurt that his bat got hot in the month of May. After starting out .157 with a .502 OPS in 53 April plate appearances, he's hit an astounding .355/.394/.484 slash line. That's brought the season total to .265/.303/.407, .710 OPS with eight doubles, a triple, and two homers.

Newman is a natural platoon partner for Perdomo. For his career he's hit left hand pitching to the tune of .276/.329/.396, .725 OPS. The switch-hitting Perdomo meanwhile is much weaker batting right handed. Last year he had just a .579 OPS vs. left-hand pitching compared to a .736 OPS against righties.

That kind of split is a trend that has persisted throughout Perdomo's professional career including the minor leagues. Combined with a likely desire to ease him back in slowly with plenty of days off to rest his healing knee, it's a fair guess that Perdomo will sit against most left hand starters, at least initially.

Suarez meanwhile is having a very down season. He's currently batting .219/.284/.321, .605 OPS. His park and league adjusted OPS+ is 75, which is about 25% below the league average. He's hit just three homers and struck out 60 times in 208 plate appearances.

Suarez has 24 RBI, but he's also come up with 144 runners on base. The average major leaguer with 208 PA has 23 RBI with 124 runners on base. In other words even the RBI production is below average when considering the extra opportunities he's had.

What little damage Suarez is doing is mostly coming against left-hand pitching. He's batting .255 with a .683 OPS against lefties, but just .206 with a .573 OPS against right-handers. Suarez was already coming off a down offensive season last year, in which he hit just .232 with a .714 OPS, or 101 OPS+.

Suarez' defense is rated exactly league average at third base by both Baseball Reference and Statcast. He makes most of the plays he should, and still has a strong arm. His range appears to be just average however. Suarez is a good clubhouse guy, but it's harder to be that positive influence when you're not playing well.

The chance this may be actual decline for the 33 year old, rather than just an early season slump looms large. The D-backs are probably not close to considering this a DFA situation however. They just don't have the depth at the position.

Suarez is also earning $11.3 million this year with a $2 million buyout of his 2025 option for $15million. Without an immediate turnaround, especially in the power department, that option probably doesn't get picked up.

Reduced playing time upon Perdomo's return, especially against right-hand pitching, seems like the most likely scenario here. If the D-backs get all the way to the trade deadline and Suarez has not improved, then they would likely move on and go with internal options if they aren't able to bring in an upgrade.

The odd man out in the short term is Blaze Alexander. After losing out at shortstop due to extremely poor defensive play at the position, Alexander has seen his playing time dwindle. He hit .312 with a .941 OPS in 70 April plate appearances. He has just 40 PA in May and has .184 with a .409 OPS this month.

Alexander also has an extreme platoon split. He's mashed left-hand pitching, batting .333 with a .928 OPS in 54 PA. But his bat has been silenced against righties batting .196 with a .562 OPS in 56 PA. He had fairly large platoon splits during his minor league career as well.

Alexander hasn't played an inning of shorstop since May 9th. He started several games at second base and had one start at third base on May 19th in which he handled four chances cleanly.

Alexander has a cannon for an arm, and defensively is an intriguing option at third base. Perhaps his athleticism and range would play well there. Not having to be the center and captain of the defense at shortstop might free up his mind.

The most likely scenario however is that when Perdomo returns, Alexander is optioned to Reno to continue to work on his defense and get more regular playing time until he is needed again back in the majors.