Spring Training Central

Our very own Matt Reinstetle compiled this story on Tigers SS Jhonny Peralta for the Lakeland Ledger.

By MATT REINSTETLE
LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

Published: Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 11:42 p.m.

LAKELAND | Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta is feeling “really good” about how things are going for him in Tigertown.

Peralta, 28, continues to be a steady and reliable defender that his Tiger teammates can count on between second and third base.

“He doesn’t make errors, and he’ll surprise you, too,” Tigers second baseman Scott Sizemore said. “He gets to a lot of balls that you think are base hits and takes a lot of hits away. I like him a lot over there at short.”

Peralta did exactly that in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. He leaped into the air and extended his body enough to grab what looked like a sure hit from Twins DH Jason Kubel and threw it in time to first baseman Miguel Cabrera in the top of the second inning.

“It was kind of a hard ball, you know, because the line drive was kind of moving in different ways,” said Peralta, who joined the Tigers after being trade from the Cleveland Indians. “But I tried to concentrate on the ball and how I could jump up there and catch the ball.”

Peralta’s main defensive goal is to improve his range.

At the plate, Peralta is hitting .237 in spring training, which puts him below his 2010 regular season average of .249. Against the Twins, Peralta was 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He said he wants to be a more consistent player and is working on his batting average and cutting down on strikeouts.

“No matter what I hit, like .200 or .300 in spring training, I go to home plate and try to do the best I can do,” Peralta said. “I try to work on everything and concentrate on the pitch and everything and whatever happens, happens.”

The Tigers have 11 games left in spring training, and Peralta plans to keep all these good feelings going and doesn’t want his numbers to distract him from what’s ahead.

“No matter what I hit … I feel really good, which is more important,” he said.

The Tigers made plenty of contact Wednesday, compiling 12 hits.

Left fielder Ryan Raburn opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run into left field. Two batters later, Cabrera hit his own solo shot on his first pitch from Pat Neshek, hitting the top of the berm in left field and tying the game 3-3. Cabrera was 2-of-3 with two RBIs.

Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge was 3-of-4.

The Tigers won the game in the bottom of the ninth when Danny Worth hit a single up the middle and Don Kelly scored from second base.

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