I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen out of Luis Peralta so far this season.
Granted, I’ve only seen his two most dominant starts.
The most recent came last Wednesday, when Peralta struck out nine batters in 3.2 innings. The overall stat line didn’t look great, with four walks and an earned run. Three of those walks came with two outs in the fourth, and the run scored when reliever Dante Mendoza came on and issued a fourth straight two-out walk.
The outing showed the good and the bad for Peralta.
The good? A low-90s fastball that he can sometimes control down and inside to righties, while often elevating high with arm-side movement for swings and misses. Pair that with a big breaking curveball, and you can see why Peralta has 23 strikeouts in 11 innings this year.
Here's a look at 8 of the 9 strikeouts Luis Peralta had on Wednesday. There was a mess up recording and I missed one. Control wasn't great, but Peralta has shown some great stuff early this season #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/k8cQu4oGjO
— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) April 28, 2022
“He’s got that life to it at the end that gives hitters trouble,” said Bradenton manager Jonathan Johnston. “Being able to put away guys with fastballs at the top I think is definitely part of his ability.”
The bad? Peralta is still young and raw with his abilities.
The younger brother of MLB starter Freddy Peralta, Luis is pitching in Low-A in his age-21 season. After signing in 2017 for a $110,000 bonus, he’s yet to pitch more than 48 innings in a season, with just 29 innings in the U.S. prior to this year. The Pirates are continuing to give him work as a starter this year, after those brief appearances in the FCL last year. The result is Peralta needing to be stretched out.
“That’s the longest he’s been into a game,” said Johnston of Peralta’s 2022 season. “I think he struggled in his first couple of starts a little bit just to stay on attack. Any time these guys are coming into their first affiliated experiences, they have to kind of find themselves and get their feet underneath them.”
Peralta got his feet underneath him through three innings last week, and Johnston feels he faced some “length and adversity” in the final frame.
There was one key moment that Johnston felt shifted the tides.
Peralta struck out the first two batters of the fourth inning. To that point, his stat line read: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K.
Adriel Sotolongo worked a 3-2 count against Peralta over six pitches, and on the seventh pitch, Peralta just missed getting Sotolongo to chase on a high 91 MPH fastball.
#Pirates lefty Luis Peralta struck out 9 in 3.2 innings last week, while walking four and giving up one run. He was one check-swing away from ten strikeouts and one walk in four shutout innings. I'll be writing more about that start and that moment tomorrow on @pirateprospects. pic.twitter.com/xpZYqMYm7x
— Tim Williams, Kang the Conqueror Variant (@TimWilliamsPGH) May 2, 2022
Had Peralta gotten the full swing, the final line would have read: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K.
“I think he labored through [that plate appearance], and there was the check-swing on Sotolongo,” recalled Johnston. “[Peralta] expended a lot of energy there, and I think he had a difficult time continuing to stay focused and attack in those last at-bats.”
The next at-bat was a four-pitch walk, followed by a mound-visit to calm Peralta down. Peralta opened 3-1 against the next hitter, before battling back to a full count. His seventh pitch missed up and glove-side, walking the bases loaded and ending his night.
The outing showed that there’s a lot to like about Peralta, with swing-and-miss stuff leading the way. His lapses in control are hopefully due to inexperience.
That moment last week was a moment of inexperience.
As he develops as a starter, Peralta will have more endurance to carry his best command deeper into games.
As he matures as a player, Peralta won’t get thrown off by a bad outcome that could be the difference between a great and decent outing.
As Peralta gains more experience, I’d expect we will see more of the first 3.2 innings of work, and less of the final three batters of that outing.
THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
Williams: Three Observations About the Pirates Farm System After One Month
Prospect Roundtable: Pirates Prospects Who Look Like They’re On the Rise
Prospect Roundtable: Pirates Prospects Off to Concerning Early Starts
Po-Yu Chen Looks Much Better in His Second Chance with Bradenton
Luis Peralta Showing Promise and Inexperience
Carlos Jimenez: Advanced Off-Speed Pitch Setting Stage In Early Season