ST. PETERSBURG -- Almost exactly a month after being traded from the Mets to the Rays, Freddy Peralta is set to face his former teammates on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.
Peralta said he will try to treat the start like any other outing, but it will be hard to ignore the context of the matchup. The Mets bet heavily on the veteran right-hander when they acquired him from the Brewers last offseason, but his disappointing stint in New York played a part in the Trade Deadline sell-off that led him to Tampa Bay.
In the middle game of the series, Peralta will get a chance to show the improvements he has made during his month with the Rays under pitching coach Kyle Snyder and bullpen coach Jorge Moncada.
“Obviously, I feel different mentally and physically. I feel really comfortable right now, because I was working on a lot of stuff when I was in New York but I couldn't make the adjustment until I got here,” Peralta said Monday afternoon in the Rays’ dugout. “The more important thing is now I am in the spot that I want to be.”
That was not the case for Peralta with the Mets. In 22 starts, he went 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA. He bore little resemblance to the All-Star and National League Cy Young Award candidate he became with the Brewers. His hits and walks went up and his strikeouts went down as “Fastball Freddy” lost some of the extension that made his signature heater so effective.
Peralta has previously lamented his ineffectiveness with the Mets, acknowledging when he joined the Rays that he “let them down.” He said Monday it was tough to leave the “really good friends” he made with the team, although he was fully expecting to be dealt by the time the Trade Deadline arrived.
Peralta brushed aside the idea that the pressure of pitching in New York affected him, saying that pressure is “just part of the game” and wasn’t a factor in the way he performed. He again made no excuses Monday for his inconsistency, but admitted his lack of production weighed on him.
“Because it was the first time that I was struggling like that. But I never give up,” Peralta said. “I was always trying to find a way to feel better, to pitch better, and I knew what I can do and I was feeling good physically, too, and healthy. But I couldn't make the adjustment.”
Still seeing the potential in Peralta’s track record and pitch mix, the Rays acquired him on Aug. 2 for a trio of well-regarded prospects: right-hander Gary Gill Hill, infielder Émilien Pitre and outfielder Aidan Smith.
Peralta didn’t immediately find success, as he was hit hard and hit often in his Tampa Bay debut on Aug. 4 at Coors Field. But he has shown signs of improvement in every outing since then, and he finally put it all together in Detroit last Wednesday, when he held the Tigers to two hits over six scoreless innings.
Peralta said he felt the same way in his previous outing, when he allowed five runs over seven innings in Baltimore, but it was still reassuring to put up better numbers to validate that feeling. He has tweaked his release point, regained his extension and adopted the Rays’ way of throwing his changeup much more often.
“The good thing is that, now, I'm different,” Peralta said. “I feel different, and I'm ready to keep going until the World Series, hopefully.”
The Rays have been pleased with Peralta’s progression and hope to see it continue against his former team.
“I expect that Freddy's going to go out and do what he's been doing for us, and that's compete at the highest level possible,” manager Kevin Cash said. “I'm sure he's excited to see some buddies over there and pitch against them, but he's done it before, coming from Milwaukee to New York.”
Peralta said he won’t know for sure until he takes the mound on Tuesday night, but he isn’t changing anything about the way he’ll prepare for the outing.
“It's a challenge. Every game, I think, for me, I take it the same way,” Peralta said. “Just come in to compete and try to get the win.”