Why this prospect’s discouraging Yankees debut was a ‘blessing in disguise’

Everson Pereira’s highly anticipated debut with the Yankees at the end of last season wasn’t pretty.

The slugging outfield prospect hit just .151 (14-for-93) with a .427 OPS in 27 games with the big-league club after being called up for the first time in late August.

Pereira was completely overmatched, striking out 40 times in that span. Over 104 plate appearances, that equates to a 38.8 percent strikeout rate. Only four other players with more than 100 plate appearances in the majors last season struck out more often.

Under normal circumstances, the Yankees would’ve been forced to make a change and send Pereira back down to the minors. Their insurmountable deficit in the race for a playoff spot at the time allowed them to continue giving Pereira playing time, even as the 22-year-old continued to struggle.

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That’s rare for a prospect in the Yankees organization, something other phenoms like catcher Austin Wells and outfielder Jasson Domínguez (albeit for only a week before he hit the injured list) were able to share at the end of the 2023 campaign as well.

“In a normal year, where we’ve got everyone healthy, these guys probably don’t make their debut yet,” Yankees hitting coordinator Joe Migliaccio told NJ Advance Media over the phone recently. “Pereira would’ve probably made his debut this year. Being able to have those at-bats under his belt — whether it was successful or not, depending on whoever’s opinion — is going to do him better justice than being in Triple-A for the whole year.”

With that perspective in mind, Migliaccio looks at Pereira’s performance as a “blessing in disguise.”

The jump from facing Triple-A pitching to big-league arms is arguably the most challenging adjustment in all of pro ball, so allowing the outfielder to take his lumps for a while could turn out to be exactly what Pereira needs to understand what it will take to succeed at this level.

“Sometimes you need to get exposed before you can make that enhancement,” Migliaccio said. “Having that big-league playing time and experience is going to do so much for him going into this next year.”

Pereira’s debut may be beneficial in the long run, but it certainly hurt his chances of sticking around in the Bronx in the short term. Had he erupted and proved that he’s ready for the big leagues, perhaps the Yankees wouldn’t have acquired three outfielders — Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham — this winter. Now Pereira finds himself at the bottom of the depth chart on the 40-man roster, seemingly destined to return to Triple-A.

In fact, if Oswaldo Cabrera can bounce back from his sophomore slump and secure a spot on the bench with his switch-hitting bat and defensive versatility, there probably won’t be a place for Pereira in pinstripes for the foreseeable future … at least until somebody gets hurt.

Giving Pereira some more time to develop in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would provide the prospect with a low-stress environment for him to lower his sky-high whiff rate, raise his launch angle, improve his plate discipline and build confidence so that he’s ready to produce when he has his next opportunity.

Pereira hasn’t shown it with the Yankees yet, but Migliaccio assured that when the outfielder is at his best, he’s able to impact the baseball as emphatically as any other phenom in the league.

That’s why Pereira hasn’t dropped off any prospect rankings for 2024 either. He’s listed as the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect by The Athletic’s Keith Law — with All-Star upside if he can reach his peak — and ranked third in the org by Baseball America.

“He’s an electric bat that’s going to change the game with one swing,” Migliaccio said. “When he hits the ball, it’s just different. It sounds different. You can put him toe to toe with almost any hitter in baseball and he’s going to match that hitter in terms of power and what that looks like coming off the bat. We just need to make sure it comes out more often because his power is legit. The juice is off the charts.”

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Max Goodman may be reached at [email protected].

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