PHILADELPHIA -- Not long after the Mets acquired Freddy Peralta from the Brewers last offseason, president of baseball operations David Stearns was posed a question about Peralta’s ability to be an ace.
“I think we have multiple starters in our rotation who, at various points in their careers, have pitched as No. 1 starters,” was how Stearns responded. “Certainly, Freddy qualifies as that.”
A few weeks later, when the Mets made the obvious decision to name Peralta their Opening Day starter, manager Carlos Mendoza explained his choice thusly: “As soon as we acquired him, it was pretty clear that he was going to be pitching at the front of our rotation. He earned it. He’s done it.”
Yet through his first 16 starts as a Met, Peralta has hardly resembled a frontline starter. After the Phillies bashed the right-hander for a career-high 10 earned runs Saturday over 2 2/3 innings of a 15-3 loss at Citizens Bank Park, the right-hander’s ERA rose to 4.83. That placed him 59th out of the 66 pitchers currently qualified for the Major League ERA title.
In other words, Peralta’s problem isn’t just that he’s fallen short of ace status. It’s that he has, statistically, been one of the worst full-time starters in the league.
“Before today, probably it wasn’t that terrible,” Peralta said. “But today was not good.”
Among the 10 hits the Phillies recorded off Peralta, seven went for extra bases. Those included the first of Kyle Schwarber’s two second-deck homers in a single inning, plus a solo homer from Bryce Harper (who went on to hit for the cycle) and RBI doubles by Bryson Stott, Justin Crawford and J.T. Realmuto (twice). Much of the damage occurred during an eight-run, 12-batter bottom of the third, which saw Peralta blow past his previous career high of seven earned runs.
For Peralta, there’s no easy explanation behind his struggles; in his age-30 season, he is doing almost everything worse than a year ago with the Brewers. In particular, Peralta is routinely falling behind in counts, as he did against five of the six batters he faced in Saturday’s game. It has resulted in his highest walk rate since 2020, as well as plenty of damage in hitter’s counts, and lots of abbreviated outings. All of that has affected the Mets in profound ways.
When they acquired Peralta, Mets officials hoped he would become the true ace they’ve lacked since Jacob deGrom left for Texas after the 2022 season. Instead, Peralta’s inability to pitch like a frontline starter has been a major reason why New York, nearly halfway through the season, sits in last place in the NL East at 34-42.
“He’s too good of a pitcher,” Mendoza said. “This is a guy that when you look at his track record, he’s been one of the best pitchers in the game. He’s going through a little bit of a rough stretch here, but if somebody is able to bounce back after bad outings, it’s a guy like Freddy.”
Peralta’s struggles could also have a significant impact on his personal finances, considering he can be a free agent after this season for the first time in his career. While Spring Training reports of Peralta seeking a seven- or eight-year deal might have been overly ambitious, it did seem well within Peralta’s control to find a rich multi-year contract awaiting him this offseason.
If he continues to pitch more like a mid-rotation or even back-end starter, however, Peralta might rapidly watch his list of suitors dwindle. Or teams could limit their interest to short-term offers, hoping Peralta can rediscover his old form on a low-risk, one-year deal.
Even before that process plays out, Peralta’s issues could affect the Mets’ Trade Deadline strategy. Should Stearns and owner Steve Cohen decide to sell off parts and rejigger their roster for the future, they might find muted interest in Peralta, who once profiled as their most marketable asset.
Those, at least, are concerns for future weeks. Asked about his struggles in general, Peralta said, “I’m not worried about it.”
“Of course I don’t feel good right now,” he added. “But I’m not worried about it.”