After Slow Start, David Peralta Has Fit in Well in the Dodgers’ Outfield

The former Dodger enemy has adjusted well to the blue.

File this one under pleasant surprise. After one month in Dodger blue, it looked like outfielder David Peralta's best days were behind him. He was hitting .167 with a .416 OPS over his first 25 games and it feeling like maybe the front office should seriously start exploring pulling the plug on the $6.5 million offseason experiment. 

Then the calendar flipped to May and Peralta is playing better than even at age 35.

Coming off a 4 hit night in his last start on Thursday, the left fielder is now hitting .342 with a .852 OPS over his last 25 games. He's been a great addition to the lineup vs right-handed pitching and is doing his part to keep the line moving for the second best offense in the National League.

Peralta was spotlighted in a recent column on The Athletic. There, the veteran admitted he was probably trying to do too much to fit in with his new club and force results while adjusting to his new platoon role.

“I think that’s natural,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think that you can see that -- being a little overaggressive, the chase. I think like with anyone if you can control that strike zone you’re going to have a better opportunity to consistently be a better hitter.

“For me, I don’t look at the batting average with David. I don’t look at the OPS. Because like I said the other day when he’s in there, I feel like he’s going to give us a quality at-bat.”

Dave's angle is akin to his tried and true I like him in that spot mentality. But with Peralta, it's been spot on. Even during his struggles, he provided professional at-bats and now has grown into a real weapon for the middle third of the order.

Altogether, the long-time Diamondback is hitting .261 with just 9 extra base hits. But his production is a bit better than meets the eye.