MIAMI -- Geraldo Perdomo's recent offensive surge has come without sacrificing the part of his game that has remained consistent.
The D-backs shortstop was at the center of multiple defensive highlights Wednesday night in Arizona’s 8-0 loss against the Marlins, helping Arizona continue a stretch of strong play in the field despite the club's recent struggles.
"That's an important feature for winning teams," manager Torey Lovullo said. "Sometimes you get shut down offensively, you have to be able to hold the other team in check. So I believe in pitching and defense, that's one of our core values here. And when you put them together, it's going to keep you in games for sure."
The D-backs' .995 fielding percentage and seven errors since May 1 are the best in the Majors.
Perdomo helped showcase that defense early on Wednesday.
In the opening frame, he snagged a 111.9 mph liner off the bat of Otto Lopez and turned a double play. An inning later, Ketel Marte also laid out for a diving catch on a sinking liner from Jakob Marsee before Perdomo recorded the final out of the frame, flipping to Marte to end the inning.
"[I felt] normal, that is part of the game," Perdomo said in Spanish. "It depends on the situation where one takes out its emotions, but I work to be able to make those types of plays."
Perdomo has long understood the importance of contributing defensively, especially during stretches when the offensive production is not there. He has an 81 percent success rate at shortstop.
"One is not always going to be batting [well] all the time because it is hard," Perdomo said. "But the defense is something that has helped us win games and it continues to be very important."
Lately, though, both sides of his game have started to click.
Though Perdomo exited Wednesday with a modest .244/.346/.353 slash line and three long balls this season, his production has started trending upward. He reached base safely in 13 consecutive games entering the night and carried a .455 batting average and .933 OPS over his previous seven contests.
The recent stretch included a season-high five times reaching base Tuesday, when he collected two hits and three walks. He also recorded one of Arizona's six hits in Wednesday's game.
What has worked for him lately is just the belief that God's timing has arrived.
"God has been with me and I think that has been the difference," Perdomo said. "When you believe in God and don't victimize yourself and keep working, eventually things are going to go well."
Lovullo believes the improvement has come from both Perdomo's patience and the limited movement during the transition to the baseball in his swing.
“When you can slow the game down to that level and hit the ball exactly where you're looking, your hand-eye and your body's in a really good position,” Lovullo said. “So he's in a good spot.”
Another factor may be Perdomo's recent move down to the No. 6 spot in the lineup.
The 26-year-old acknowledged that he can become frustrated when his performance does not match his expectations.
"I put pressure on myself sometimes when I know that I am better than how I am doing. I get frustrated when I don't do things well," Perdomo said. "But I feel better every day and that has been very important for me, too."
Lovullo also shared that Perdomo might sometimes want to carry the weight of the team when he doesn't necessarily need to.
"It's a big workload to put on one person's shoulders," Lovullo said. "I just told him, 'I am going to lower you in the lineup, be yourself, have fun and do what you do, per at-bat.'
"Maybe it's translated [to a better performance], I don't know. But he's always working on something fundamentally. Maybe it's taken a little pressure off for him, we'll see. But at some point he's going to migrate back north when it's the right time."