No muss, no fuss: Peralta cracks three hits, then goes about his business quietly
JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta officially ended his slow start to spring training by hitting his first homer and two singles in three at-bats in a 7-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday afternoon. Then he slipped on his sandals, picked up his headphones and headed out of the clubhouse, getting a headstart on Wednesday's off day.
No muss, no fuss, unlike last year.
When Peralta reported to spring training 2014, skeptical eyes all over baseball were following him. He was coming off a 50-game PED suspension but still had scored a $53 million contract with the Cardinals that rankled some in the game. Peralta hushed the critics by playing in a career-most 157 games and leading the Cardinals with 21 homers.
This year, he has few visitors at his clubhouse locker and he has been able to go about his business just the way he likes: quietly. When he started the spring 0 for 11, not a concern was raised. He's just a couple of clicks away, manager Mike Matheny said.
Peralta's clicking now, as he showed when he lofted a home run off a Bryan Morris slider to become the first of Matheny's "big boy" veterans to homer this spring.
"It feels good to hit a homer, but I don't try to hit a homer," Peralta said. "I try to get good contact and work on what I need to work on."
Asked if he is glad to not be the center of attention this spring, Peralta shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I just try to do what I need to do every day and try to be ready for the season."
He said he feels "really comfortable with everybody" in his second season with the Cardinals and Matheny pointed out that even veterans press when they go to a new team, even more so for Peralta last year because "there were some extenuating circumstances he felt he navigated through."
Really, though, it's hard to tell much difference win or lose, 4 for 4 or 0 for 4.
"Even last year, he's the same guy every single day all season long," Matheny said. "That's part of what is so great about him."
Peralta also singled twice against the Marlins and has five hits in six at-bats in his past two games. Still, he isn't as concerned with results as fine-tuning his swing for the season.
"When I feel ready, I am hitting to center and right field, good line drives in the gap," he said.
Are you close?
"I feel good," he said. "I'm just about ready to go."
And he picked up his stuff and strolled easily into the afternoon.
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THREE STRIKES
• Wainwright to debut Saturday. Not surprisingly following his sharp outing in a simulated game Monday, Adam Wainwright is set to make his first start of the spring Saturday against the Braves. Wainwright has progressed slowly but steadily since suffering an abdominal strain early in camp. Matheny said the tall right-hander likely will throw between 50 and 60 pitches, typically the workload for a third start of spring.
What Matheny didn't say but is clear is that by starting Saturday, Wainwright will be on a track to start on Opening Night. If he pitches every five days from Saturday on, he will make three starts before the team heads north and be on turn for April 5 at Wrigley Field.
Lance Lynn, who left his first start with a mild hip flexor strain, is scheduled to throw a sim game Wednesday and likely make his next start Monday. If he does and then goes every five days, he will be in line to start the second game and, if Matheny sticks with a five-man rotation during the first week, the April 14 home opener.
• Wilson outlasts Garcia. Before camp opened, not many, if any, would have pegged infielder Jacob Wilson to stay in big-league camp longer than infielder Greg Garcia, who spent part of last season with the Cardinals. But Wilson has turned enough heads that when the team announced four cuts Tuesday morning, his locker was full and Garcia had been reassigned to the minors.
Wilson, a 24-year-old, 10th-round pick out of Memphis in 2012, is hitting .375 with a team-leading five extra-base hits, including a homer. He also has shown he can handle second and third base. "Wilson kicks the door open as soon as we crack it," Matheny said.
Wilson hit .302 at Palm Beach and Springfield last year and earned a trip to the Arizona Fall League. Matheny has been talking up Wilson's cerebral approach since early in spring training.
"The first time he took batting practice, (you could see) this guy's got something different," said Matheny, who is not ruling out Wilson's chances of making the team. "Our job as a staff is to figure out who's going to give us our best chance. We don't want to rule out a kid that's going up there taking great at-bats every time."
• Worth noting. Rookie left-hander Marco Gonzales gave up four hits -- none of them cheapies -- but allowed only one run in a 4 2/3-inning, 67-pitch outing that included a strikeout of Giancarlo Stanton with an impressive changeup. ... Less than an hour before first pitch, outfielder Peter Bourjos was in the batting cage taking tosses from hitting coach John Mabry as the center fielder continues to work on his new swing. But when the game began, he continued to struggle. Following leadoff hits by Peralta and Kolten Wong in the second, Bourjos grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that snuffed a potential rally and two strikeouts later, his spring average had dropped to .043 (1 for 23). "Now we're starting to see him tense up trying to make things happen instead of trusting what he was doing," Matheny said. "He's frustrated now; he just wants to see results. I still know what we're watching now is better than what we're watching a year ago." ... Lefty Tyler Lyons, catcher Carson Kelly and infielder Breyvic Valera were the other players sent down as the club reduced its spring roster to 48.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
