Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers '23 - #51 Freddy Peralta

51. Ichiro. The Big Unit. Bernie. Fastball Freddy.

Okay, so maybe the latter has a lot of ground to cover before being listed alongside those other 51s. It's hard to argue, though, that after Peralta's Mother's Day debut in Colorado in 2018 the future for the young Dominican right-hander didn't look very bright.

Photo Credit: © Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Point of fact: Freddy Peralta was just 22 years young when he first pulled on a Brewers uniform in a regular-season game. After coming over from Seattle in the Adam Lind 3-for-1 trade, Peralta steadily ascended in production as his talent matured, culminating in his first "full" MLB season in 2021. Peralta pitched in 28 big-league games (including 27 starts) and posted a 2.81 ERA in 144.1 innings.

That inning total was potentially at play last season. I mentioned in a different piece in the series that the "Verducci Effect" may have contributed to injuries in 2022. No one had a bigger increase in the impact of his innings on the Brewers between 2020 and 2021 than did Peralta. He pitched only 29.1 innings of virtually all relief. His one start in the big leagues that year was a three-inning effort that began his campaign. He had two more appearances of three and four innings pitched next, but after that, the most he recorded on one day was six outs, and he only faced double-digit batters once, in his season finale. Peralta made 571 pitches in 2020 between the truncated regular season and his one Postseason appearance. In 2021, Peralta threw 2356 regular season pitches and 57 more in the Postseason.

In 2022, Peralta dealt with multiple shoulder injuries, twice landing on the IL and missing 76 games. The first was the worse injury...

The #Brewers changed their announcement.

Freddy Peralta's placement on the 15-day IL is due to a "right posterior shoulder strain" instead of how it was originally written.

— The Brewer Nation (@BrewerNation) May 23, 2022

...and almost certainly resulted in the second, when he was pitching through the late-season schedule. Unfortunately for his prospects, 2022 was not the first time Peralta had shoulder issues. He also missed games on the injured list in 2021 & 2019 due to shoulder injures.

When healthy, Peralta is dynamic, with big strikeout stuff (~30% K-rate) and the ability to avoid barrels, despite giving up some hard contact along the way. The issue, of course, is keeping him healthy. (More on that in his 2023 Outlook below.)

Peralta's best start of the season came on May 16th, at home against the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves. Peralta went seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out 10. That was one of only six scoreless outings for Peralta in 2022. Importantly, Peralta finished the 2022 season healthy and, at least from what has been said publicly, he will report to Arizona healthy as well.

Contract Status: Peralta is somehow already entering year four of the five-year, $15.5 million contract extension he signed in late-February of 2020. Following a final guaranteed year in 2024, two club option years exist on the deal. Peralta will officially earn $3.5 million in 2023.

2023 Outlook: Starting pitching depth was a huge issue for the 2022 Brewers, exposed in no small part by the injuries to Peralta. Keeping such a talented arm available would go a long way in contributing to the success of the 2023 edition. When the Brewers signed Wade Miley to a free-agent contract this winter, speculation abounded as to which member of the 2022 rotation would open in the bullpen. Aaron Ashby and Adrian Houser were the two most frequently mentioned options, but especially recently on social media, Peralta's name has come up more often.

Peralta has shown the ability to relieve in the past, but whether the health of his shoulder is better served by shorter appearances in relief versus the measured warm up and routine of starting is a matter of debate among fans, and among writers like our own Tim Muma who wrote on it earlier Tuesday.

Personally, I expect Peralta to begin the season in the rotation, perhaps being eased through April to keep his overall season numbers in check while the team keeps an early eye on the target of having Peralta available for potential postseason play once again.

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Catch up on BBtJN '23!

#55 Hoby Milner
#54 Jake Cousins
#53 Brandon Woodruff
#52 Eric Lauer