Leaning into unique pitch, Peralta has impressed
LAKELAND, Fla. — If the past few years have taught Wily Peralta anything, it’s that the 34-year-old journeyman pitcher has learned what makes him successful.
And probably what gets him hit around, too.
As the Pirates continue to look for pitching depth — in many cases failed starters who can re-career in the bullpen — Peralta represents an intrigu -ing case, a pitcher who fits their type and someone who has backed it up with a strong spring thus far.
Peralta’s rotation days are probably over, the result of the right-hander going 3-8 with a 6.31 ERA in 24 starts with Triple-A Rochester in the Nationals minor league system a season ago.
But can Peralta make the Pirates as a reliever?
Stranger things have happened.
“Any situation they put me in, where I can help the team win and it gives me a chance to be back in the big leagues, I’m OK with it,” Peralta
said. “Nothing is different [in either role]. Just go out there and execute pitches.”
One specifically is why Peralta could have a chance here.
In 2021, Peralta began drifting away from a sinkerslider combination and started using a split-finger changeup. Sift through Baseball Savant’s pitching data, and Peralta’s splitter was the second-best such pitch in MLB that season behind that of Kevin Gausman.
Peralta held opponents to an .080 average and .130 slugging percentage with the splitter — which also had a 36.6% whiff rate — while throwing it a respectable 22.7% of the time. When considering more traditional results, Peralta had a 3.07 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) for the Tigers, covering 93⅔ innings.
The pitch wasn’t as effective for Peralta the following season — opponents slugged .475 against it — but he still had solid results, transitioning into more of a relief role with the Tigers (2.82 ERA in 28 games).
“I was able to command all my pitches and locate them well, using that changeup a lot,” Peralta said of his success with the Tigers.
Last year was obviously not good.
Peralta was hit hard and saw his walk rate spike to 4.8 per nine innings.
At the same time, much of that came over the final three months of the season.
The Pirates could find a way to play up what makes Peralta good (the splitter) and simultaneously not run him into the ground.
They have a firm back end of the bullpen with Carmen Mlodzinski, Colin Holderman and Aroldis Chapman being the primary setup men for David Bednar. Ryan Borucki will be there, too.
Beyond that, Dauri Moreta probably has a leg up on Peralta due to having a spot on the 40-man roster, but that could leave two swing jobs available.
Some might depend on what happens with Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester and Luis Ortiz. Does one go to the bullpen?
There could be a decision on Bailey Falter, too. Josh Fleming and Brent Honeywell are two other non-roster pitchers who’ve looked good this spring.
But we’re also talking about a relief role with more protection, and few have done what Peralta accomplished while leaning heavy into his splitter from 2021-22.
Provided, of course, he can prove last season’s minor league numbers were an anomaly.
“His versatility was important to us when we signed him,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We’ll kind of see how our bullpen shapes out and then use it that way.”
Peralta delivered a sneaky solid performance last week against the Rays, entering in relief of Mitch Keller and leaving the bases loaded during a third-inning escape.
In two scoreless frames, Peralta didn’t allow a hit or a walk, struck out one and threw his splitter — classified as a changeup on Baseball Savant — 11 times in 31 pitches, generating four whiffs. It averaged 78.9 mph, which represented a sizable drop from his sinker (92.8 mph).
“He got some really unorthodox swings off the changeup and was able to use the fastball off it,” Shelton said. “Really important for us to see that. He did a nice job.”
Throwing his splitter for strikes and chases and mixing in fastballs will be the key, Peralta said after his outing.