Outfielder David Peralta, who spent his final season in San Diego, announced his retirement after a successful career that was spent mostly with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with the story reported by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLBTradeRumors.com.
The native Venezuelan had an unusual career path. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a left-handed pitcher in 2004, but control issues and a couple of shoulder surgeries stalled his development. He was just 21 when he was released by the Cardinals, and Peralta hadn’t made it to the Low-A level at that point in his career.
It was then that Peralta became one of the most successful players with a background in independent baseball when he reinvented himself as a hitter. Peralta wasn’t marginal, either—he raked against pitching when he first appeared in Low-A, at which point the Diamondbacks purchased his contract midway through the 2013 seasons.
It was one of the smartest signings in recent Diamondbacks history. Peralta stayed on a tear in High-A and made the jump to Double-A the next season, and when Arizona promoted him to the big leagues he hit .286/.320/.450 over 88 games and became a regular.
Peralta had his career year early. As a rookie, he slashed .312/.371/.522 while connecting on 26 doubles, 10 triples, and 17 home runs, and Peralta combined with outfielders AJ Pollock and Ender Iniciarte to form one of the most effective outfields in baseball.
Injuries slowed his career after that, but Peralta once again showed his resilience, batting .293 in consecutive seasons after that, and in 2018 he hit 30 home runs. Peralta went on to win a Gold Glove award the following season, and he continued to produce offensively at a high level.
His performance began to decline after that, but Peralta continued to be a productive player. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022, but he would finish his career in the NL West, playing with the Los Angeles Dodgers and then the Padres.
Peralta was more of a complementary player when he signed with the Padres in 2024, but he still had a strong statistical season, slashing 267/.335/.415 showing over 91 games for San Diego. He also played for teams that made the postseason annually from 2022-24, and he played for the Padres in their five-game series loss against the Dodgers in 2024. Peralta went 4-for-13 in that series and homered off pitcher Jack Flaherty.