ST. LOUIS — With Jose Peraza and walking more, it’s — pardon the play on words — baby steps.
Reds manager Jim Riggleman thinks that’s the next step in Peraza’s evolutions as a hitter is taking more base-on-balls. Peraza is never going to be going Votto when it comes to drawing walks. But Suarez is considerably more selective this year.
Last year, Peraza walked 20 times in 518 plate appearances. Going into Sunday, he had walked 22 times in 398 plate appearances. That’s a walk rate of 5.5 percent, up from 3.9 percent last year.
“I think that’s what we’ve seen, and we’ll see more of that,” Riggleman said.