Dodgers News: David Peralta and Jason Heyward Have Earned the Appreciation of Dave Roberts
When the Dodgers signed both David Peralta and Jason Heyward to one-year deals in the offseason, there were not high expectations for them. The team expected them to help the team out as much as they can, but they weren’t ready for the veterans to be as important as they have been for the lineup.
Heyward is on pace for his best season since his rookie year and Peralta is playing like he was at the peak of his career with the Diamondbacks.
As the vets continue to be a staple in the lineup for the Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts has started showing his appreciation for what the two players are bringing to the team.
“Professional hitters just taking really good at-bats,” Roberts said. “So if you look at those guys, they’ve kind of added some length to our lineup. Those guys obviously had nice nights to drive in some runs, picked us up big. For me, it’s just the quality of at-bat, and they’re very dependable players.”
Via Dodgers Insider
When the season started, neither Heyward or Peralta were showing the potential that they had for this season.
Through April, Heyward was hitting .240 with three home runs. Now his stats are up as he had a great June. Currently, Heyward is hitting .259 with eight home runs and and an OPS of .824. He is on pace for the best OPS of his career.
The only other person on the Dodgers who has had the biggest jump from April to now is David Peralta. When May started, Peralta was hitting .167 with one home run and 10 RBIs. His season batting average has gone up to .286 after an unstoppable June.
Since June 1st, Peralta is hitting around .400 with an OPS near 1.000. Despite the rough start to the season, Peralta put in the work to get to where he is right now.
“The first month was rough for me, and I was trying to figure that stuff out. But you just have to trust the process,” Peralta said. “I wish everything can be that easy. You say, ‘I’m going to change something, and it’s going to happen right away.’ But I put in a lot of hard work with the hitting coaches and everyone. Now the results are coming out.”
Via Dodgers Insider
Now that the team is entering the All-Star break, both Heyward and Peralta are players that the Dodgers can depend on. That was something no one was expecting, especially in Heyward’s case.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!
