Former Mets Starter Could Vault Rays Into World Series

The New York Mets had to endure a lot of failure from former starter Freddy Peralta, and Peralta will pour an extra pinch of salt into the wound as the traded starter makes his second start of the ALCS on Monday night in a game that could put the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series. 

This will be Peralta’s second start of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians, but the circumstances will be very different. Peralta’s initial start came in Game 2, with the Rays reeling at home after a 7-3 loss in the series opener. The Guardians have been much tougher at home, and another loss would have put the Rays completely back on their heels headed into Milwaukee.

But Peralta refused to let that happen. He’s rediscovered life as “Fastball Freddy,” hitting velocities the Mets could only dream about after they acquired Peralta in a trade from the Milwaukee Brewers that sent two strong prospects to the Brewers. 

Peralta threw his fastest pitch of the season as he hit 99.4 mph on the gun, and he spent most of the night living above 95 as he pitched six shutout innings against Cleveland. The right-hander was having trouble getting his fastball up to 95 by the time the Mets traded him, and that lowered Peralta’s trade value considerably.

There’s no reason Peralta shouldn’t hit those same velocity heights on Monday night, especially given the extra emotion that will undoubtedly come into play in this game. When Peralta first arrived in Tampa, he was pitching to save his career, but he had a brilliant month of September after the Rays tinkered with his delivery and helped Peralta make some crucial mechanical adjustments. 

The biggest was having Peralta abandon his windup, which quickened his delivery and brought his fastball to life. More adjustments were necessary to restore some of the command that needed to happen with the extra velocity, but it’s still a mystery why this tweak didn’t happen with the Mets. 

The Rays will also have a distinct advantage going into this game that they didn’t have in Peralta’s initial outing. They’ve clearly established themselves as the better team in the last couple of games, especially with the Guardians now losing their home field advantage. 

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers will be waiting, but they’ll represent a much taller task for Tampa Bay. It’s a series for purists that will almost certainly be a ratings disaster, providing Freddy Peralta can help get the Rays there.