A Jhonny Peralta Trend

Courtesy of Zimbio

Jhonny Peralta is arguably enjoying the finest season of his entire career. In his first full-season with the Detroit Tigers, the shortstop has posted a .306/.355/.487 line with 19 homeruns, 80 RBI, 62 runs, and a 9.4 UZR/150. Offensively, Peralta ranks third among shortstops, and defensively, he’s fourth.

But considering Peralta owned a .249/.311/.392 line with a -1.2 UZR/150 at shortstop and -6.1 UZR/150 at third base last season, many people are wondering if his 2011 is for real. Upon taking a closer look, Peralta is far from a fluke. In fact, the 29 year-old has actually consistently followed a very unique trend that justifies his elite 2011 season.

Since 2005, Peralta has statistically posted one good season, followed by two bad/mediocre seasons–and then starting the cycle over again. Remember, one must factor both his offensive and defensive outputs (so his 2007 season was dragged down by his poor defense). It’s almost Biblical in a way.

As proof, one must take a look at his WAR from 2005 to present:
2005: 4.5 (good)
2006: 0.4 (bad)
2007: 1.7 (mediocre)
2008: 3.9 (good)
2009: 1.0 (bad)
2010: 0.8 (bad)
2011: 5.1 (good)

Like clockwork, Peralta’s 2011 season arrived after experiencing two very sub-par campaigns in 2009 and 2010. The shortstop hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down this season (.308/.364/.436 in September so far), but given his history, Peralta would have to break a certified trend in order to continue his success into 2012.

Any statistical information taken from Baseball Reference and Fan Graphs.