Reds’ Peraza rebounding following tough start

CHICAGO — It’s taken a couple of months for Reds infielder Jose Peraza to settle into the season. He had a rough start at the plate. He moved around to different positions in search of playing time.

“I think it’s been difficult for him, even though you wouldn’t know it at all, the fact that he hasn’t been playing every day,” Reds manager David Bell said. “After last year, I think that’s been an adjustment for him.”

Peraza was expected to be the starting shortstop until Scooter Gennett’s groin injury at the end of spring training. Peraza shifted to second base to allow Jose Iglesias to play his natural position. Then Derek Dietrich broke out offensively, and Peraza split his time between second base and the outfield.

One season after Peraza led the Reds with 182 hits, he became more of a utility player. He started to break out of his offensive slump at the end of June, entering Tuesday with a .333 batting average and .357 on-base percentage in his last 51 at-bats.

Despite moving from the everyday shortstop job to a utility role, the 25-year-old Peraza could have a big role in the Reds’ plans for the future. Iglesias and Gennett are free agents at the end of the season.

“It’s all kind of growing experiences, even though up to this point in the year it may not have been ideal, the way he would draw it up,” Bell said. “It probably happened for a reason. I think he’ll be a better player because of it.

“We’ll continue to look for opportunities. Even though he hasn’t played every day, he’s still gotten a pretty significant amount of playing time. It certainly hasn’t been a lost half of a year for him in any way.”