PHOENIX -- Freddy Peralta is all smiles when he discusses his personal transition from the Brewers to the Mets, following the January trade that sent him from Milwaukee to New York.
“Excellent,” he described it this past weekend during the Mets’ three-game series against the D-backs in Phoenix. “Everything has been great, comfortable, thank God. I think everything was really easy to adapt to here.”
Peralta has registered a 3.12 ERA in eight starts for his new club in 2026, albeit with a strikeout rate (23.2%), walk rate (9.7%) and FIP (3.72) slightly worse than his career numbers in those categories.
The Mets are pleased as well, as per manager Carlos Mendoza’s comments during the Arizona series when asked if Peralta has been what the club expected when the veteran right-hander was acquired:
“100 percent. That and more”, Mendoza said. “It’s not just the competitor, the pitcher we see on the mound, but what he does in the clubhouse, the joy, the vibe he brings. There’s always a smile.
“He’s really consistent and a hard worker. Really, everything they told me about him when we made the trade has been true … not only the quality pitcher, but the quality human being.”
That type of harmony is all well and good. But the reality for the Mets as a collective is that they find themselves with a 15-25 record, the worst in baseball and far from the NL pennant race as of now. Of course, they could still right the ship at this point, just the 40-game mark. But if not, growing questions of the Mets being “sellers” at this year’s Trade Deadline will persist as we approach the All-Star Game and beyond.
With that in mind, Peralta, in the last year of his five-year, 15.5 million contract he signed with the Brewers in 2020, would be one of the key names to crop up in trade rumors. Has the nine-year veteran pondered that scenario?
“Really, I haven’t thought about that, because I have hope and faith that we can achieve a lot with the team we have,” said Peralta, scheduled to start the first game of the Mets’ three-game set at home against the Tigers on Tuesday. “I have confidence in the guys, and I have confidence in myself as well. I think we can turn it all around.
“I love being here. I’d like to stay here.”