A Mother's All-Star Dream Becomes True For Geraldo Perdomo
Geraldo Perdomo's mother, Fatima, had a dream where she saw her son playing with a bunch of his teammates, other players, and media in a loud stadium. Perdomo that maybe it could happen in a year or two, but that dream became reality Friday when the Diamondbacks shortstop was added to the National League All-Star roster. He'll be replacing Dansby Swanson, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right heel contusion.
When Perdomo found out from manager Torey Lovullo, the first person he called was his mother. "I just called her to tell her know right away I was going, she was crying too".
The D-backs captured that moment for us to see:
His mother had never been able to see him play in person yet, but Perdomo is hoping her travel visa to see her son play in an All-Star game in Seattle. The D-backs shortstop has never visited the city before, although he has played up in the Pacific Northwest as a member of the Hillsboro Hops in the 2018 minor league season.
For Perdomo, an All-Star appearance comes exactly one year after his most challenging season as a professional. Tasked with handling the everyday shortstop duties with Nick Ahmed recovering from shoulder surgery, he struggled in 2022. In 148 games he hit .195 with just five home runs and a .547 OPS. For players who had 500 plate appearances that season, his OPS was dead last in the big leagues.
A year later, his bat has come alive. In his first 72 games in 2023, he is hitting .274 with five home runs, 36 walks, and a .796 OPS. Over the past three weeks, the D-backs have moved him up to the leadoff spot to better utilize his exceptional batting eye and ability to grind out long at-bats. When discussing the move in past interviews, Perdomo often has said his job is getting on base to create opportunities for hitters behind him.
The drastic improvement at the plate combined with solid shortstop defense, his value to the team has been worth 2.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). That ranks third amongst National League shortstops this season, behind Francisco Lindor and Swanson. Once the Cubs shortstop bowed out of the All-Star game, Perdomo was the next player in line.
"It is a tremendous honor for him, for this organization, for everybody that has touched his life." said Lovullo. "It's such a great story, he is one of ours through our system. He's developed, he comes up here, has the year he had last year. We talked about it as recent as yesterday how frustrated he was about his year last year and he's never going to let that happen again offensively. Made improvements and now he's an All-Star. It's a special moment for him and all of us."
Perdomo will join Corbin Carroll, Zac Gallen, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in Seattle to represent Arizona. With Perdomo joining the roster the D-backs have four All-Stars, second to only the Atlanta Braves' eight. When asked about what it means to have that many All-Stars on the same team, Perdomo said it showed they never give up and improved so much since his first year in 2021.
