Yankees No. 5 prospect Everson Pereira flying under the radar at Double-A
Under normal circumstances, Everson Pereira would likely be getting a lot more attention playing for the Somerset Patriots this season.
These are not normal circumstances, however.
Teammates with Jasson Dominguez and Austin Wells, Pereira, the No. 5 prospect in the Yankees organization, largely flies under the radar at TD Bank Ballpark.
The well-rounded 22-year-old outfielder, who signed out of Venezuela for a reported $1.5 million in 2017, has steadily climbed the ladder in the minors and is back with the Patriots after finishing last season there following a mid-July promotion from High-A Hudson Valley.
Pereira performed well in Double-A last season, hitting .283 with five homers and 13 RBI in 29 games, but missed the end of the regular season and playoffs due to an undisclosed injury. Even with that early success, his aspirations remain the same.
“The goal has been the same in my career,” Pereira told reporters last week through manager Raul Dominguez serving as translator. “I’m just trying to be better every day, and just trying to help my team to win games every day. That’s the goal that I always have had since I started playing baseball.”
Things haven’t come as easily at the plate thus far this season, with a .240 batting average and just one homer and 12 RBI in his first 83 plate appearances. In the field, however, Pereira, who came up almost exclusively a center fielder, has played all three outfield spots for Somerset; he has eight starts in center, eight in left and five in right.
With outfield spots in the Bronx seemingly always in flux of late, Pereira knows that could be the ticket to reach the big leagues quicker.
“I really like playing all three positions,” he said. “I know that’s another opportunity I have to be better in all three positions … it doesn’t matter if it’s left, center or right. I want to learn every day in each position.”
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While Dominguez is also moving off his perch in center to play some left field as well, it is perhaps more relevant to the big-league club that Pereira is doing so, given his status on the 40-man roster. Although he’s yet to reach Triple-A, there would be a clear path for the Yankees to summon him to Yankee Stadium if a need arose, but Pereira says it isn’t something he’s let himself think too much about.
“I like to put pressure on myself, it doesn’t matter if I’m on the 40-man roster or not,” he said. “I’m just trying to do the best. I know it’s a part of my job, and I can handle how to deal with it. I know the pressure is there, and I have to keep doing what I’m doing every day.
“I don’t expect that call yet,” he added. “I know it can happen, but I don’t think about that too much. I just think about the day-by-day, working hard every day. If it happened and I got that call, I would be happy, and my goal is to be in the big leagues for sure, but I’m thinking about working every day.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Yankees prospect Everson Pereira flying under radar at Double-A
