Nationals call up Luis Perales to pitch in relief

Coming in for a bulk outing after Matt Waldron fired two scoreless innings, the wheels fell off for Dion in his third inning of work. After tossing two scoreless frames out of the pen with eight swings-and-misses along the way, both Troy Johnston and Cole Carrigg hit two-run homers in the fifth. Johnston’s came off a front-door sinker that the left Dion was bold for trying and missed his spot badly. Carrigg’s was off a fastball at the letters that didn’t even crack 90 mph. At that point, manager Blake Butera had seen enough and pulled Dion. He has good stuff, but will need to sustain a bit more velocity to be effective in a multi-inning role. Luis Perales came in for some bulk work after as well and showed elite stuff – 101 mph fastball, 11 whiffs – but let up four runs in two innings with three walks. It seems like the Nationals are going to deploy their pitchers in unorthodox ways during the final month of the season.

Nusbaum adds that the Nationals plan to continue using Perales in relief for now. The story remains much the same from a development standpoint for the 23-year-old top prospect, who came over from the Red Sox in the Jake Bennett trade last offseason. He possesses some of the most intriguing raw stuff in the minors, but leaves much to be desired from a command standpoint. He’s 3.64 ERA and 97/55 K/BB ratio across 96 1/3 innings on the doorstep of the majors this season. It wouldn’t be surprising if he excelled in relief, but there was optimism he could make a leap in the command department and blossom into an effective mid-rotation arm that misses plenty of bats.

Perales holds a 3.76 ERA and has struck out 81 in 88 2/3 innings for Triple-A Rochester as a 23-year-old. He’s Washington’s 10th-rated prospect per MLB Pipeline, while Kent is eighth. It seems likely that as the Nationals fade from the Wild Card race they check in on their younger arms down the stretch to see what they have for 2027. (Assuming a 2027 season happens, that is.)

We’re now starting to see slightly larger batches of cuts around the league as teams start to trim down their rosters in advance of Opening Day. Cornelio, 25, looked sharp in his two Grapefruit League appearances, posting a 1.80 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and a 7/0 K/BB ratio across five innings of work. He should get an opportunity to debut with the Nationals at some point during the 2026 campaign.

It’s an extremely rare prospect challenge trade as the Nationals ship out a talented southpaw on the cusp of the big leagues as a back-end starter in exchange for Perales, who boasts triple-digit velocity and sky-high upside if he stays healthy and improves his control. The flame-throwing 22-year-old righty looked sharp in the Arizona Fall League after being limited to just three appearances this season in the upper minors while recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. If it all comes together, Perales has the raw stuff to become a legitimate impact arm for a rebuilding Nationals club.

Perales is making up for lost time on the fall circuit after being limited to just three appearances this season in the upper minors while recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing 22-year-old righty touched triple-digits with his four-seam fastball in this outing and allowed just one baserunner over two frames. He walked three of the seven batters he faced while throwing just 17 of 33 pitches for strikes in his AFL debut last week. He has a chance to be an impact arm for Boston next season as one of the more impressive arms in their system.

The Red Sox would surely prefer to have him keep working in Double-A, but the Sea Dogs’ season is over. Perales pitched one scoreless inning there in his return to game action on Saturday. He made seven starts in High-A and two in Double-A before getting hurt last year. He was considered Boston’s top pitching prospect at the time, having posted a 2.94 ERA and a 56/12 K/BB in 33 2/3 innings.

Perales, who is one of Boston’s top pitching prospects, had Tommy John surgery last July. While the 22-year-old will not be a factor in Boston’s postseason push this year, the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey reports that “Everybody with the Red Sox who has seen Luis Perales lately has been giddy,” and believes that Perales could be a factor in the Boston rotation in 2026.

Perales is recovering from Tommy John surgery and won’t be ready to pitch until the end of the summer at the earliest. Webb and Stock were signed to minor-league contracts and will need to be added to the 40-man roster if the Red Sox believe they can help the club at some point in 2025.

The right-hander was removed from his outing on June 9 with right elbow inflammation, and after undergoing tests, it’s determined that the 21-year-old needs to undergo the season-ending surgery. Perales is one of the top pitching prospects in the Boston system, and he had reached Double-A with a 2.94 ERA and 56/12 K/BB ratio. Perales likely won’t see the mound again until late in the 2025 season at the earliest.