Peralta vs. Marte

We all knew this was going to happen, Jhonny Peralta starts off slow ever year, it's nothing new. You can put money on that fact, he always hits well in Spring Training but he never carries it over into the cold of the Midwest states in April/May.

And then there's Andy Marte, you either love him or don't care about him. Marte was handed the starting 3rd base job a few years back and didn't take to it (a la 2B Brandon Phillips in '03), but most fans don't realize Marte is only 26 years old. For most position players 27 is their break out career year so he could still be something, if he's given the chance.

With 1B/OF Matt LaPorta on the team and 1B Russell Branyan coming off the DL you can guarantee that Marte is not going to play much, if any 1st base. His only chance at seeing some action is going to be at 3rd base. It's really the only reason he's on the team right now, the fact that he plays 3rd base and that he's right handed. They do have 2nd basemen Luis Valbuena and Mark Grudzielanek, along w/ Branyan that can play 3rd base if need be but none of them should ever play more than a whole game there.

Peralta sat out today and Marte had an interesting day going 2 for 4 with a homerun, 3 RBI, and no strikeouts at the plate but he missed a pop up in foul territory that led to an unearned run (the only run for the Twins), and he also got picked off trying to steal second base on what appeared to be a miscommunication or misunderstanding of signals because he was out by a mile(and Marte is no speedster, so why send him?).

You can't really say much about the errors when comparing Peralta and Marte because Peralta has made 2 costly errors this season and is not swinging the bat well at all to back him up. He's a stiff lump until the weather heats up. Acta has to consider sitting him for awhile and let the Marte project begin and play itself out. Peralta has an option on his contract next year that I really don't think the Indians are interested in unless he goes on a tear this season. Marte is going to be on the cheap side of things for a couple f years, just the way the Indians like it and we need to keep in mind that top 3B prospect Lonnie Chisenhall is at Double A Akron. Plus prospect Wes Hodges has been moved from 3rd base to 1st base indefinitely. Either one of Peralta or Marte could really prove themselves, the opportunity is there for the taking (or we can see if Casey Blake wants to comeback to Cleveland).