The Luis Perales for Jake Bennett trade has been a major talking point among the fanbase this season. We have seen Bennett have success in Boston, while Perales has been up and down in AAA. However, we are finally going to get a chance to see Perales who will be debuting for the Nats as a reliever.
For a lot of the season, Perales has struggled to turn
his electric stuff into whiffs. That has been changing the last couple of months though. In hislast 37.1 innings since July 1st, Perales has 49 strikeouts. Command has still been a question mark for the 23 year old righty, but that swing and miss stuff is a big reason for his promotion.
The biggest key to unlocking more whiffs has been his splitter. Since July, Perales has been using that pitch a lot more and it has devastated hitters. For the season, hitters are whiffing 46.4% of the time against the offering. That pitch alone seems like enough for him to carve out a role as a high leverage arm, especially when combined with a fastball that regularly touches 100.
Perales’ command remains a work in progress. Even during this successful run lately, he has been walking a lot of batters. However, with his stuff, he does not need to be pinpoint. Perales can use his fastball, splitter and cutter to have a lot of success.
Interestingly, Perales got moved to a bullpen role where he throws in 2 inning spurts after spending most of this season as a starter. There are a couple potential reasons for this. The first one is to manage his innings. For the year, Perales is at 96.1 innings, which is actually a career high. He is also coming off Tommy John, which cost him virtually all of last season.
The Nats do not want Perales blowing past his career high in innings after barely throwing at all last year. Another reason is that this is a way for him to help the big league team right away. His command may not be ready to start in the big leagues, but his stuff is certainly MLB ready. If Clayton Beeter can have levels of success in the bullpen, Perales certainly can.
Perales has also been very good in this bullpen role. In his last three outings, he has gone 6 scoreless innings, allowing no runs, striking out 12 and walking just two. With his fastball and splitter, he could immediately be one of the Nats best relievers.
The Nats may want to try out Perales as a starter for longer, but honestly I think his home is in the bullpen. However, I think Perales can be one of the better relievers in the league. His arm is absolutely electric and he is already showing he is able to adapt to the role well.
This should be a very exciting debut for Nats fans. Perales will come in and light up the radar gun. However, his splitter is the real star of the show at the moment. If the strike-throwing is even mediocre, Perales can be a closer. Even if it is below average, he should make an impact for a long time. Buckle up and get ready to see some rocket fuel because Luis Perales is here.
