PEORIA, IL – The St. Louis Cardinals and Peoria Chiefs have announced that shortstop Jhonny Peralta will begin a rehab stint in the Midwest League when the Chiefs host the Beloit Snappers at 7:00 p.m. Friday. Peralta is expected to play in five of the first six games on the homestand, as he is not expected to be in the lineup on Sunday.
Peralta, who was placed on the disabled list at the start of the season after having ligament surgery on his thumb, will be the fourth Major League rehab in the last four seasons. Last year the Chiefs had outfielder Jon Jay for three games in May and lefty Jaime Garcia started a no-hitter against Clinton on July 23. The Chiefs first Major League rehab in the return to the Cardinals was Jake Westbrook, who started against Quad Cities on June 9, 2013. Peralta’s rehab stint is expected to last through Wednesday and he is expected to play on Friday, Saturday and Monday as the Chiefs host Beloit and then Tuesday and Wednesday against Kane County.
Tickets for the homestand are available online at www.peoriachiefs.com and through Ticket Return by calling 1-866-MYTICKET (1-866-698-4253). The Dozer Park Box Office will open at 10:00 a.m. on Friday for those wishing to purchase tickets in person.
Last season Peralta played in 155 games for the Cardinals as a National League All-Star batting .275 with 17 home runs, 26 doubles, 71 RBI and 64 runs scored. He committed just eight errors in 148 starts at shortstop while stabilizing the Cardinals infield defense. Peralta made his Cardinals debut in 2014 batting .263 with 21 home runs, 38 doubles, 75 RBI and 61 runs scored while finishing 14th in the ML Most Valuable Player voting. Prior to joining the Cardinals, Peralta spent part of eight seasons in Cleveland and part of four seasons in Detroit. He was an American League All-Star with the Tigers in both 2011 and 2013 and he has five seasons of at least 20 home runs in his career. Peralta has appeared in the post-season six times in his career including every year since 2011. He played in the 2012 World Series with the Detroit Tigers with a game one home run in San Francisco.
A native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, Peralta signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1999 and made his MLB debut in 2003. He has played in 1695 career MLB games with 194 home runs, 844 RBI, 359 doubles and a .268 career average.
The Chiefs return home Friday after a 10-game, 11-day road trip that has included a five-game win streak. The first 1000 fans 13 and over get an Albert Pujols caricature t-shirt giveaway and there will be a post-game Fireworks show. The Saturday game starts at 6:30 p.m. and also includes post-game Fireworks show and Military Appreciation Night. The first 1000 fans 13 and over receive a Chiefs Camo Hat courtesy of Hardee’s and a Local Heroes Military Baseball Card set courtesy of xfinity.
