Freddy Peralta gives up two runs in loss to O’s

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.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that the Mets will receive three players back in return, though who those players are is not yet known. Expect the details to emerge throughout the afternoon. The Mets had been asking for a top-100 prospect “and more” in conversations earlier in the week. Stay tuned, as the hot stove is currently on fire as Monday’s trade deadline approaches.

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.

Peralta and Holmes are almost assuredly being dealt this week, and the Cubs are looking to add starting pitching. As Passan notes, the Cubs also have “plenty of bats available” that could interest the Mets, like Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez in the big leagues, or Owen Ayers and Jefferson Rojas in the minors. It remains to be seen if the teams can make anything work, but the pieces seem to be there.

Expressing an interest and being willing to meet the likely high asking prices are two separate things, but it’s interesting to note that the Rays are looking to be aggressive, especially when it comes to pitching. According to Murray, any additional starter the Rays bring in wouldn’t necessarily mean Griffin Jax or Ian Seymour are out of the rotation. Instead, the Rays are looking for pitching depth to help offset innings and injury concerns surrounding Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen. The team could decide to use a six man rotation or occasionally skip starts in order to keep those guys healthy for the playoffs. Considering Peralta is a free agent at the end of the season, he would be the most likely target of the trio.