TinCaps manager Jose Valentin mourned his team’s batting in a loss Wednesday.Fort Wayne was even worse in a pair of games Thursday.FORT WAYNE – Jace Peterson missed 11 games during a stint on the disabled list with concussion-like symptoms.
He didn’t show any rust in his first at-bat back in the TinCaps lineup, singling in the first inning Wednesday at South Bend.
“It felt good,” Peterson said Saturday.
“I’m just trying to keep doing what I was doing before the injury. It’s working out so far. Hopefully I can keep it going.”
Peterson collected three hits and had two RBI in his return.
The shortstop has five hits, has scored five runs and knocked in three more in his first four games since being activated.
He played his fifth game Sunday as the TinCaps played host to Bowling Green at Parkview Field.
“It looks like he didn’t miss anything at all,” TinCaps manager Jose Valentin said. “He jumped in there without seeing any live pitching. He’s swinging the bat good. He’s doing what the lead-off guy is supposed to do. With him, this team is a lot better.”
Peterson was involved in a scary collision with pitcher Colin Rea in the first inning May 10 against South Bend.
There was a pop-up behind the mound. Rea raced back for the ball, Peterson charged in and dived. The two collided. Peterson was carted off the field and went to Parkview Regional Medical Center for further evaluation. He had a sore neck and concussion-like symptoms.
“All I really did was rest,” said Peterson, a supplemental first round pick by San Diego in last year’s draft out of McNeese State. “I wasn’t able to do much at all. I felt fine, it was just a waiting process to get cleared. I put in the time.
“… They just wanted to be cautious and work me in slow. And now I’m back.”
Peterson has a .308 batting average.
“I’m just trying to stay simple,” Peterson said. “Have a simple approach at the plate. Don’t carry a bad at-bat with you the next time. Every day is a new day, so whether you go 4 for 4 or 0 for 4, your next day you have to come back and be ready. So far, I’ve been able to handle that pretty good.”
Peterson is 11th in the Midwest League in batting average.
He is fifth in the league in stolen bases (16), sixth in on-base percentage (.389) and eighth in runs (31). He’s tied for fourth in the league with four triples.
He leads the TinCaps with 14 multi-hit games.
Peterson entered the season as the No. 17 rated prospect in San Diego’s organization, according to Baseball America.
“He can set the tone,” Valentin said. “He’s one of those guys that’s a headache for the opponent. Having him in the lineup, it makes our lineup a lot better.
“The guys behind him get better pitches to hit when he gets on. I can put on the hit-and-run, steal some bases. There’s a lot of things I can do, I have a lot of choices to try to score some runs.”
