Rays set to acquire Freddy Peralta from Mets

Peralta allowed just two hits and no walks while striking out four. He posted a 62 percent strike rate with a 30 percent CSW and a 12 percent swinging strike rate on the day. This was easily his best performance as a member of the Rays, and the first time he’s allowed no runs in a start since June 25th. Actually, it’s only the third time he’s allowed no runs in a start all season. As we expected, the Rays continue to have Peralta lean on his changeup more, even to righties, and he had a 31 percent swinging strike rate on the pitch on Tuesday. To righties, he located the pitch far better in the zone, but he focused on chases outside of the zone against lefties. He’ll look to keep it going with a revenge game of sorts against the Mets on Wednesday; although, it’s unclear who would want revenge on whom.

Peralta got off to a bit of a rough start in this one. After allowing back-to-back hits to lead off the inning, one of which was an RBI single by Pete Alonso to score Jackson Holliday from second, he then walked Gunnar Henderson to put runners on first and second with no outs. He was fortunate enough to get out of the inning thanks to a double play ball by Samuel Basallo, but in the top of the second inning he would surrender a leadoff homer to Dylan Beavers to cut the Rays’ lead to 3-2. Peralta wouldn’t allow a run over the next two innings, but a sacrifice fly by Jackson Holliday in the fifth inning followed by a two-run homer by Pete Alonso put the O’s back on top 5-3. Peralta wouldn’t allow another run over his last two innings of work, but the Orioles got the best of him after managing just two runs against him when they faced off last week. Peralta’s next start is set for Wednesday on the road against the Tigers.

Peralta also walked three batters in the contest while recording a pair of strikeouts. He hadn’t allowed a run when he was pulled with two men on and two outs in the fifth inning, only to watch Garrett Cleavinger come on to allow a pair of hits and both of those runners to score. Peralta got 13 whiffs on 76 pitches on the afternoon, registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll look to improve upon his disappointing 5.27 ERA and 1.48 WHIP when he squares off against these same Orioles in Baltimore on Friday.

Peralta gave up six hits, walked one and struck out five. It was a solid rebound start after he allowed seven runs to the Rockies at Coors Field in his Rays debut. The Rays haven’t totally fixed Peralta quite yet, but this was certainly a step in the right direction. Peralta is lined up to face the Orioles at home on Sunday.

After the Mets’ flurry of moves in the offseason, there was plenty of speculation that the relationship between Soto and Lindor was fractured. This would seem to give those rumors a little bit more credence. Castillo mentioned that “tension” was lingering, so sources mentioned “that Peralta in June arranged for the two stars to vent and work through their disconnect.” Peralta and Lindor have confirmed that the meeting occurred, but Castillo reports that “Soto denied such a meeting happened.” The last part is not the best indicator that things have improved, but if Peralta could have helped make that relationship more palatable, it would potentially be his lasting legacy as a member of the 2026 Mets.

Peralta’s Rays debut didn’t go quite as he’d hoped, drawing a road matchup in Colorado. He gave up a run on two hits in the first inning, then ran into more trouble in the third. Peralta opened the inning with three straight hits that drove in a run and put two runners on for Mickey Moniak, who took him deep for a three-run blast. Willy Castro would add a two-run homer in the fourth. Peralta’s day would be done with two outs in the fourth inning at 71 pitches. He struck out three. The 30-year-old right-hander sees his ERA balloon to 5.37 with a 1.52 WHIP and 116/49 K/BB ratio across 117 1/3 innings. Still, we should give the Rays the benefit of the doubt in their ability to get Peralta right and chalk this one up to Coors Field. He’ll look to bounce back against the A’s in Sacramento, another hitter-friendly environment.

It’s not exactly a favorable spot for Peralta to starting turning things around, but he delivered a memorable performance at Coors Field during his big-league debut back in 2018. The 30-year-old righty came over to Tampa for a trio of prospects over the weekend after struggling mightily in his Mets debut. He’ll take over Shane McClanahan’s spot in the rotation for now.

This is certainly one of the best-case scenarios for those rostering Peralta, as he’ll get to try to turn things around in a very good situation for pitchers in Tampa Bay. A 17-game winner in Milwaukee last year, Peralta is just 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts this year. His elevated .313 BABIP seems rather fluky, given that he’s remained pretty good at limiting hard contract. However, it is a significant concern that his strikeout rate has dropped from 28 percent to 22 percent. The Rays will plug him into Shane McClanahan’s rotation spot for now and probably start him at some point against the Rockies in the series starting Monday. Eventually, Ian Seymour could be bumped back to the pen once McClanahan comes off the IL.

The Athletic’s Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal reported earlier today that the Mets are asking teams for a top-100 prospect “and more” in their early conversations with teams about Freddy Peralta. It appears they’re close enough on terms with a team to consider scratching Peralta to make sure he can turn up to a new team injury-free. It would seem likely that a rested Kodai Senga will shoulder most of the load in a bullpen game tonight.

It would certainly seem like a stretch that the Mets will get anything like what they gave up to get Peralta, though perhaps desperation will take the reins at the deadline after some other dominoes fall. Peralta is 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 113 2/3 innings for the Mets this year, but other teams seem to believe they can fix him. The Cubs, Braves, Rays, and Phillies are among the clubs showing strong interest in Peralta per The Athletic reporters.