Luis

Perales

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.

You never want to see it. Perales has posted a strong 2.94 ERA with an even stronger 56/12 K/BB ratio over his 33 2/3 innings, and he’s considered one of — if not the — best pitching prospects in the Boston system. A trip to the minor-league injured list is likely, but there’s no timetable for when Perales will be ready to return at this point.

Depending on the scouting service, Perales is either ranked as the best or second-best pitching prospect in Boston’s system and one of their top 10 overall prospects. The 21-year-old had a 3.42 ERA across 26 1/3 innings (seven starts) with 46 strikeouts and just 10 walks. He will now try to keep up that strikeout rate at a higher level, but the 6'1" starter was one of the high-upside prospects who many thought would benefit from the Red Sox overhauling their pitching development system.

The pair of roster moves trim Boston’s spring roster to just 54 players, which includes 17 non-roster invitees. Gonzalez was added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster back in November after excelling last year between High-a Greenville and Double-A Portland.

The hard-throwing 20-year-old right-hander took a bit of a step back during the 2023 season, posting an underwhelming 3.91 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and a 115/50 K/BB ratio across 89 2/3 innings between Single-A Salem and High-A Greenville. Still, he’s got perhaps the best raw stuff of any starting pitcher in the Red Sox’ system and his ceiling remains very high. Expect him to begin the 2024 campaign back at High-A Greenville — where he made his final eight starts to finish the 2023 season.