Despite rough debut, No. 12 prospect Perales has eyes on future with Nats

WASHINGTON -- Flamethrower Luis Perales could factor into the Nationals’ starting rotation as soon as next season. For now, the 23-year-old righty is embracing the chance to get his feet wet in the Majors via the Nats’ bullpen.

The Nationals’ No. 12 prospect was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday afternoon and made his big league debut hours later in the Nats’ 13-1 loss to the Rockies.​

Perales came on with one on and two outs in the fifth inning, and after walking Willi Castro, he struck out Mickey Moniak on an 89.9 mph splitter to end the frame. A scoreless sixth inning followed, but Perales couldn’t escape trouble in the seventh.

After allowing back-to-back one-out base hits to Hunter Goodman and TJ Rumfield, Perales walked Castro on five pitches. Two batters later, Connor Norby launched a 2-1 cutter to center for a grand slam. The Rockies had an 8-1 seventh-inning lead en route to their second straight win at Nationals Park.

“I did what I could,” Perales said via team interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “I went out there, and at the end of the day, I just wanted to get out of that inning and I couldn’t.”

Perales tossed two innings, allowing four runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Perales threw 53 pitches but only 27 strikes. He conceded that improving his command will be a priority in his next appearance.

“Be more in the strike zone,” he said. “Get ahead of hitters, start the count 0-1, and that’s something I didn’t do today, and it affected me in my outing. It’s definitely something I have to work on.”

Perales’ velocity is his biggest strength, though he didn’t lean heavily on the fastball in his debut. Perales instead mixed his fastball and cutter evenly, but when he did go fastball, the heat came as advertised. According to Baseball Savant, Perales’ 17 four-seam fastballs averaged 99.4 mph, with six reaching triple digits.

“He used the cutter a little bit more than I would have thought,” manager Blake Butera said. “I’d like to see him attack a little bit more with the fastball, but that’s something that we’re going to sit down and talk about with him to see what he was thinking and to make sure we’re thinking along with him in terms of how he wants to attack and what his mindset should look like.”

Perales suggested his command issues factored into his pitch selection.

“My fastball wasn’t landing in the strike zone,” he said, “so that’s why we kind of had to shift to the secondary pitches.”

Overall, Butera was encouraged by Perales, who made his big league debut less than a year after returning from Tommy John surgery in September. Acquired from the Red Sox in a December swap of pitching prospects, Perales could be among several candidates competing for a rotation spot as soon as next spring.

“He showed some good stuff,” Butera said. “You see the fastball up to 100. I thought the secondary was good. Look, it was his first outing. He was one at-bat away from getting out of that with a really solid outing in his Major League debut. Overall, he showed some promise. I think there’s a bright future.”

With the Nationals now a season-low 11 games under .500 (62-73), much of the stretch run will serve as a chance for many to audition for the future. Perales will get his opportunities. Despite having come up primarily as a starter, the Nationals opted to transition him to a reliever earlier this month in Triple-A with a big league job in mind.

“I feel really good and really happy to be here,” he said. “One outing isn’t going to define the type of pitcher that I am, so I’ve just got to keep working hard.”

On the same night Perales debuted in the big leagues, fellow Nationals pitching prospect Jarlin Susana came off the IL and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings (50 pitches) on Wednesday with Double-A Harrisburg. Washington's No. 3 prospect had been working his way back from right lat surgery and made his 2026 debut earlier this month with three rehab appearances at High-A Wilmington.