Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo holding down SS job amid potential challengers

On the day shortstop prospect Jordan Lawlar was brought to the majors last September, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo called shortstop Geraldo Perdomo into his office. He gave Perdomo a rough outline of how playing time might shake out and told Perdomo he might be asked to play other positions.

Perdomo’s response resonated for those in the room.

“He’s a shortstop and he takes a lot of pride in being a shortstop,” Assistant General Manager Amiel Sawdaye said. “But he was like, ‘Whatever is best for the team.’ He didn’t have to be like that. He could have been like, ‘I’m a better shortstop.’”

As it turned out, Perdomo ended up getting the bulk of the time at shortstop down the stretch. He then played nearly every inning of the postseason. And he once again enters camp this year as the club’s primary shortstop.

There is an assumption throughout baseball that the day will come, perhaps sooner than later, when Perdomo will have to relinquish the starting shortstop job to Lawlar, who is viewed as one of the better shortstop prospects in all of baseball.

But, for now, at least, Perdomo remains a valuable member of a team with playoff aspirations. He is a surehanded defender. He is a contact-oriented hitter who might be as good at recognizing pitches as anyone in baseball. He is actively trying to show he has more in the tank in terms of offensive production than he has shown in his two-plus years in the majors.

And, as his interaction in Lovullo’s office illustrates, Perdomo is a team-oriented player whose energy and positivity makes him a well-liked member of the clubhouse. Perdomo said he has made an effort this spring to help both Lawlar and fellow shortstop prospect Blaze Alexander as best he can.

“He genuinely cares about his teammates and pulls for his teammates,” Lovullo said. “Instead of competing with them, he lets his game do what it’s supposed to do and blocks out the noise.”

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Lovullo said he and others in the front office have joked with Perdomo in recent days about Alexander’s hot spring, telling Perdomo to look out because Alexander is “coming for you.”

“He’s like, ‘Good for Blaze,’” Lovullo said. “‘Good for him. I’ve got to be better than him, that’s what that means.’”

Said Perdomo: “When I see Lawlar and Blaze, that’s competition, but I want to treat those guys like my brothers.”

Perdomo has one of the more extreme offensive profiles of anyone in baseball. He ranks near the top of all major league hitters in his ability to control the strike zone and make contact. He ranks near the bottom when it comes to impacting the baseball.

He said he spent time this offseason at Driveline Baseball, a well-regarded training facility, looking to find ways to increase his bat speed and, by extension, his exit velocities.

“I feel like the information I got from them was about mechanics — where my hands are, where my hip is going, what my shoulders are doing,” Perdomo said. “I think I’m a better hitter when I use my lower half, for sure.”

Perdomo made the National League All-Star team after a productive first half last season, but his numbers tailed off after the break. He performed better in the playoffs, however, slashing .275/.362/.392 with two homers in 17 postseason games.

After struggling against lefties in the regular season, he held his own against them in the postseason, going 7 for 24 (.292) with a pair of walks, albeit with no extra-base hits. That seems to have been enough to earn the switch-hitting Perdomo a chance to show he can be more of an everyday option than he was last season, when he mostly platooned with veteran Nick Ahmed.

Perdomo is off to a slow start in the Cactus League, going just 2 for 21 with a double through eight games.

General Manager Mike Hazen has all but ruled out Lawlar on the Opening Day roster, saying he would only start in the majors if the team had a role for him. Whether Perdomo becomes a trade chip or a bench player — or whether he can keep a stranglehold on the position despite Lawlar’s presence — will be a storyline to watch as the Diamondbacks' season unfolds.

“I just want both players to excel,” Lovullo said. “I want them to make every play and hit every ball they’re supposed to, and then we’ll have to figure out what to do at that point. Eventually, we’re going to have a tough decision. They’re both elite athletes and elite players that play the same position. We’ll figure that out once we get to it.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DBacks’ Geraldo Perdomo holding down SS job even as threats mount