New York Mets fans don't have much to be excited about after a frustrating 2026 MLB season that has them watching the postseason from home. 

To make things sting a bit more, the Tampa Bay Rays are the No. 1 seed in the American League, and former Mets pitcher Freddy Peralta has had a massive turnaround since going to Tampa Bay at the deadline. 

Peralta ended the regular season as the AL Pitcher of the Month for September, and he had a 4-0 record with a whopping 0.96 ERA. 

On Monday, Peralta started Game 2 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, and here's a look at how Peralta fared. 

Peralta went 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run with one walk and three strikeouts. He threw a total of 66 pitches, and although the Rays won the game 5-2, Peralta didn't factor into the decision. 

One thing that everybody noticed was Peralta's velocity increased. 

Former MLB star Pedro Martinez also noticed the same thing. 

Peralta retired the first nine Yankees batters, but that streak ended as Ben Rice hit a home run in the top of the fourth inning. 

Peralta was able to get out of that inning, but he allowed a double to Austin Wells and then a walk to Ryan McMahon in the top of the fifth before being replaced by Cam Booser. 

Mets fans surely took note of Peralta's strong outing, and here's a nice pitch he threw to strike out Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a full count. 

Peralta picked up right where he left off in the regular season. His last start in September came on Sep. 25, and he went 5.1 innings, allowing zero runs on four hits to get the win. The time before that, he went 5.2 innings and allowed just one run, and he threw five shutout innings in Sep. 13. 

For comparison, Peralta made 22 appearances this season for the mets, and he went 5-9 with an inflated 4.99 ERA in 113.2 innings, so it's been night and day since he went to Tampa Bay. 

The Rays suddenly are up 2-0 to the Yankees in a best-of-five series, so one more win will send Tampa Bay to the ALCS to face the Cleveland Guardians or Chicago White Sox, the latter of which is now up 2-0. 

It seems likely that Peralta won't pitch again until the ALCS, barring a sudden collapse by Tampa Bay, and Mets fans can only wonder what could've been.