Former Mets Starter Is Back On Top After Leaving New York

When the New York Mets traded starter Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays, the right-hander was a mess. His velocity was down, and his breaking ball wasn’t working, either. Peralta didn’t have an out pitch, and as a result his typical start was five innings or less as he had one of the worst ERAs in baseball among qualified starters. 

Enter the Tampa Bay Rays, who seem to specialize in fixing pitchers like Peralta. The Mets’ theory was that Peralta had lost some extension, thus decreasing his velocity, but the Rays took a very different approach. 

It started during a brutal game right after Peralta was traded, as he gave up seven runs in 3-2/3 innings against the Colorado Rockies, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. For one pitch, Peralta abandoned his windup and with a slide step, and the result was an uptick in velocity to 97 mph. 

The conclusion drawn by Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder was that it was the fastest he’d seen Peralta moving on the mound. A consult followed, and when Peralty said he was comfortable pitching out of the stretch he abandoned his windup. 

The change was ridiculously effective. The Rays immediately began working on Peralta’s mechanics to handle the change, and Peralta felt the difference. He proceeded to pitch to an ERA of 2.26 over his final nine starts, and he’ll take the ball on Monday night in Game 2 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees. 

According to Sammon, Peralta is “whipping” the ball out of the stretch, and he’s using his changeup more as a counterpoint pitch. The velocity contrast is playing in a big way, which isn’t exactly surprising.  

So why couldn’t this happen with the Mets? Some of the suggestions the Mets offered were similar, as they, too, wanted Peralta to increase his changeup usage. But they also wanted him to throw his fastball more in the upper parts of the strike zone, which probably wouldn’t have played well given the diminished velocity. 

Peralta also dropped Snyder’s name in all of this, which is part of why this is all so embarrassing for the Mets and their coaching approach. They tend to feature endless layers of coaching, and Peralta mentioned both the information and the way it was communicated as part of why he’s succeeded in Tampa Bay. 

It was a costly failure, too, as Peralta’s struggles were a big reason why the Mets tanked early and stayed down. Peralta is still playing, while the Mets are endlessly trying to figure it out.