Freddy Peralta is on the mound tonight with a chance to pitch his team to the World Series. Unfortunately for the New York Mets, that start will take place in Tampa Bay as the Rays look to close out the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians.
The Mets had high hopes for Peralta as they acquired him to be their ace in David Stearns' latest attempt to build a rotation. The logic was sound, as Peralta was acquired and developed by Stearns in Milwaukee, growing into an ace over the past few years, while New York's acquisition cost of prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams appeared reasonable for a pitcher of Peralta's ability.
The move backfired as Peralta never took to New York, going 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 22 starts. With the Mets out of contention, Stearns moved Peralta to the Rays at the deadline for a trio of prospects headlined by infielder Emilien Pitre.
The move to Tampa Bay appears to have reinvigorated Peralta, who went 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 10 starts. Peralta has also become the Rays' second-best pitcher in the postseason behind Drew Rasmussen, leading the team with a 0.79 ERA and racking up nine strikeouts in 11.1 innings pitched.
Why Freddy Peralta's turnaround raises questions for the Mets
On Monday, ESPN's Jorge Castillo released an intriguing story about Peralta's resurgence with the Rays, highlighting a few key changes Tampa Bay made after acquiring him. Rays bullpen coach Jorge Moncada told Castillo that the Rays made changes back to what worked for Peralta in Milwaukee, indicating that what the Mets wanted Peralta to do was the problem.
After a tough first start with the Rays in Colorado, Peralta looked more like himself down the stretch. According to Castillo's story, Tampa Bay asked Peralta to pitch out of the stretch more often, as he did in Milwaukee.
The Mets had Peralta working through a full windup early in the season, and Rays officials noted that it appeared to be impacting Peralta's ability to be successful.
Other tweaks that the Rays made to Peralta included a move to the third-base side of the pitching rubber, a wider pitching stance, a new workout designed to strengthen Peralta's legs, and a sped-up delivery. Tampa Bay also encouraged Peralta to throw more changeups, which was designed to create more contrast with his elite fastball, and the resulting tweaks helped the Rays get more of the Brewers' version of Peralta than the Mets ever did.
Meanwhile, Mets officials relayed to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo that many of the mechanical tweaks the Rays suggested were ideas they had to maximize Peralta's effectiveness. David Stearns also discussed Peralta in his end-of-season press conference, suggesting he had to do a further examination of why the Mets couldn't effectively communicate the desired tweaks to Peralta as the Rays did.
Even if the Mets had the same thoughts on how to fix Peralta, they have to figure out why they weren't able to get buy-in from him as the Rays did. Peralta has repeatedly raved about how supportive the Rays' ecosystem is for pitchers, which isn't a good look for a Mets team trying to develop a reputation for fixing pitchers.
The big question the Castillo piece raises is why the Mets stuck with Peralta's full windup for so long when it clearly was impacting his performance. The Mets as a whole have been a bit rigid in their messaging and process, but trying to enforce a drastic change on Peralta when it clearly wasn't working for him may have made him a bit more hesitant to buy into other mechanical changes they suggested.
The issue could've come down to messaging, which has been a strength of new manager Andy Green. Several young players who struggled early in the season under Carlos Mendoza notably improved after Green took over, including Nolan McLean and Christian Scott, so it is fair to wonder whether Green being a more effective communicator can help avoid issues like the Mets had with Peralta.
Either way, the Mets need to take the Peralta experience for what it's worth and realize they are not infallible when it comes to delivering information to their players. Peralta's lavish praise for the Rays and the ensuing positive results he had in Tampa should serve as a wake-up call that they need to be more flexible in their approach with players to temper the risk of avoidable regression with their new acquisitions.
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