The New York Mets got Freddy Peralta to go deep into games, but so far that's not happening in his starts so far.
The New York Mets aren’t unhappy with the starts Freddy Peralta has given them so far, but there’s also no doubt that he could be better. As good as Peralta was with the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the complaints that’s followed him in his career is that he’s often not very inefficient.
That proved to be the case yesterday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field as Peralta lasted for just 4-2/3 innings. He threw 101 pitches, and reliever Huascar Brazoban allowed all three of his inherited runners to score, which put the Mets behind 3-2.
Peralta had some unwanted help with his inefficiency from shortstop Francisco Lindor, who committed a fielding error that fueled an Arizona rally and forced Peralta to throw extra pitches. He complained about the conditions after the game in a piece written by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, calling it a “crazy” atmosphere in which to pitch.
“It was a battle,” said Peralta, who struggled to put hitters away throughout his brief outing. “Since the first pitch of the game, I was a little uncomfortable. But it’s going to happen. We’re going to have days like that.”
These kinds of complaints likely won’t go over well with Mets fans. Peralta has pitched in the NL Central for years, and while the home conditions may have been comfy with the retractable roof in Milwaukee, there are also plenty of rude days in Chicago and Cincinnati when the games are played in football weather.
Peralta’s start was also marred by an ABS overturn during the Diamondbacks’ rally. Brazoban appeared to have Adrian Del Castillo retired on a called third strike that would have stranded the runners Peralta left him to clean up, but Del Castillo successfully challenged the call, then smacked a two-run single.
“For a moment I thought I was going to be able to finish the fifth without damage,” Peralta said. “But I couldn’t, man. I know that Brazo came in, and he tried his best. It’s part of the game.”
So far Peralta has a 4.80 ERA through three starts, and he’s averaging exactly five innings per start. This isn’t what the Mets were expecting when they traded for him, and Peralta knows it.
“I have to be better,” he said. “But I think that it’s still early in the season, and I’m going to have at least 27, 28 more games. So I’m going to be making adjustments.”
Adjustments are fine, but it will be interesting to see if Peralta can alter an issue that’s been with him for his entire career. The Mets need him to go deeper into games now that he’s had some time to build a pitching foundation for the season, and it will be interesting to see how he fares in his next start against the hard-hitting Athletics, which is scheduled for Sunday.