Veteran David Peralta continues to help Padres advance playoff push – San Diego Union-Tribune

The first question in the interview room went to Fernando Tatis Jr.

The same applies to the second, third and fourth.

David Peralta smiled broadly and clenched his fist a little as the conversation finally focused on him, joking with the 25-year-old superstar sitting to his right in the fourth-floor conference room at Petco Park after the Padres' 6-5 win sat.

Peralta, a 37-year-old journeyman, is so happy to be here.

To be back in the playoffs. Be with the Padres. Being in baseball at all.

“It means a lot to me, especially the way I started this year,” Peralta said after his two-run double helped secure the Padres' only win in Game 3 over the Dodgers in the NLDS to achieve. “I… have to play in Triple-A and try to find a way back to the big leagues. And finally, the San Diego Padres gave me a chance and believed in me that I could help the team. I'm just grateful, especially being with this great guy and all my teammates. They all supported me and believed in me.

“It’s a special moment to be in this position now and to do my part in the team’s victory.”

Peralta's journey is unique in major league baseball. He made it as a minor league pitcher in the Cardinals' system, made it to the big leagues years later with the Diamondbacks and played nine years in Arizona before being traded from Tampa Bay to the Dodgers.

His career reached a crucial turning point after last season when he required a flexor tendon repair in his left (throwing) elbow after playing through the injury since the All-Star break.

Peralta signed a minor league contract with the Cubs in February, began the season on the injured list at Triple-A Iowa and had a .689 OPS in 20 games when he was released in early May.

The Padres picked up Peralta a week later, sent him to Triple-A El Paso, and recalled him before the end of the month as a left-handed hitter to help off the bench while the team figured out how to deal with Xander Bogaerts' shoulder fracture.

The need became a lot greater when the “great guy” to his right, Tatis, went on the injured list late Tuesday night, June 24, with a stress reaction in his right femur.

Only Peralta hit .196/.297/.232 in his first 64 plate appearances on a team that had at least fallen in love with the magnetic presence in the clubhouse.

The actual production followed.

During Tatis' absence, Peralta was the team's regular right fielder against lefties. Peralta finished the season hitting .289/.347/.472 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs in 64 games. While Tatis' return in September pushed Peralta's bat back to the bench, he drove in two runs on Saturday with his first career postseason home run and doubled in the second inning to put the Padres on the brink of promotion to the Nationals League Championship Series.

“It was a big swing he hit the other day, the two-run homer,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “And a two-run double today. He opened both games. He was great for us. Obviously, in Tati's absence, he was a big part of what got us here. He did a great job. Without David Peralta, I would shudder to think where we are and he continues to play.”

As for Peralta, he doesn't want to imagine where he would be without the Padres.

He is exactly where he belongs.

“I think I realized that when I first walked into the clubhouse in Cincinnati when I got called up to the big leagues (with the Padres),” Peralta said. “I saw this group. I know this guy (Tatis); I've been playing against these guys for a long time… and they just welcomed me. And it's just a great group of people.

“We are all together like a brotherhood. And we go out and have fun and do our job and do our thing. And we're fine, man. We're fine.”

Originally published: October 8, 2024 at 10:37 p.m