When the Mets traded for Freddy Peralta this offseason, they hoped they were getting the final key piece to a roster with championship aspirations: an ace. The right-hander had established himself as a premier starter during eight years in Milwaukee, peaking with a career year in 2025. Peralta won an NL-best 17 games while posting a 2.70 ERA and striking out 204, finishing fifth in Cy Young voting. As is their wont, with one year left before their homegrown star hit free agency, the Brewers flipped
him to the Mets.
Dear reader, all did not go according to plan. While Peralta is far from the sole reason his new team sits in the NL East’s cellar, he’s the embodiment of much of what’s gone wrong. He’s tied for the league lead in losses (9) and ranks third from the bottom in ERA (5.01). The veteran has made just four quality starts; no other qualified NL starter has fewer than six. Things have snowballed quickly, as Peralta had a 3.63 ERA as late as June 3 but has allowed 37 runs in 37.2 innings his last eight times out.
A look under the hood provides some mixed feedback. Peralta’s 3.83 xERA, while not exactly ace-like, is a far cry from his real-life mark. His .309 BABIP suggests some bad luck or victimhood at the hands of Mets fielders. But he’s allowing more hard contact and punching out fewer batters than at any point since he became a full-time starter, helping lead to a less impressive 4.51 FIP.
The man himself has no particular explanation for his sudden downturn — or strategy for returning to form. “I don’t know,” he said after getting shelled in a return to Milwaukee his last time out. “I don’t know how to define it, or if there’s only one thing. I just don’t understand sometimes, but I’ve got to keep fighting and trying to get through this.”
Peralta features a four-seamer, which he throws more than half the time, that averages 94.2 mph. His top secondary pitch is his changeup, followed by a curveball. He mixes in three additional breaking balls in a deep starter’s repertoire. The changeup has been the least effective this season and a culprit for his downturn, with batters hitting .286 and slugging .457 against the pitch (up from .173 and .271 last season).
Peralta’s struggles add insult to injury for the Mets. Not only will their prized offseason acquisition fail to headline a playoff rotation for them, his poor performance tanks their chance of recouping a haul anywhere near the prospects they traded to acquire him. Still, starting pitching is always in high demand, and the memory of what Peralta accomplished just last year will lure teams to come calling, albeit at a discount rate.
At first blush, the Yankees are not an obvious fit for Peralta. Starting pitching has largely been an area of strength, with greater need lying in the bullpen and infield. They may also be wary of adding a pitcher who’s wilted in his first opportunity to pitch in New York (though he has fared much better at Citi Field than on the road this year). Nonetheless, you can never have too much pitching, and the Yankees’ depth at starter would allow them to absorb a Peralta experiment while still lining up a playoff rotation without him if he continues to struggle.
