Brewers go with Peralta as Opening Day starter for second straight year

PHOENIX -- If you were surprised to hear Brewers manager Pat Murphy name an Opening Day starter on Wednesday -- the very day pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training -- you weren't alone.

The Brewers' pick, right-hander Freddy Peralta, was just as surprised.

"I was in the hallway yesterday, coming back from working out," Peralta said Thursday morning, "and he just told me, 'Hey, I just did this.' I was like, 'Hey! It's not even the first day!' He was smiling, a big smile on his face. And he makes me happy, too, knowing that it's going to happen again.

"I want to keep it my [whole] career. You never know how long it's going to be, but it's something I feel good about."

Peralta, who beat the Mets in his first career Opening Day assignment last season, will face a different New York team on March 27, when the Brewers take on the Yankees in the Bronx at 2:05 p.m. CT.

Last year, the 28-year-old went 11-9 with a 3.68 ERA and 200 strikeouts. He provided stability in a season that the Brewers set a club record by employing 17 different starting pitchers, setting a career high for innings and reaching the 200-strikeout milestone for the second straight year.

"It's been a great journey," he said. "I love what's happening in my career right now."

Few players can tell a career story as compelling as Peralta, who comes from modest beginnings in the Dominican Republic, was traded from the Mariners to the Brewers as a teenager and was 21 years old in May 2018 -- still learning English, still wearing braces -- when his parents finally got to see him pitch professionally. His mother, father and wife came to Colorado Springs, Colo., where Peralta was scheduled to start for Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate.

The baseball gods had other ideas. The Brewers happened to be playing the Rockies in Denver at the same time, and their scheduled starter for a Mother’s Day series finale against the Rockies at Coors Field, Chase Anderson, fell ill. So, they summoned Peralta at the last moment and the rest is history. He set a Brewers rookie record with 13 strikeouts, the most in a Major League debut since Stephen Strasburg eight years earlier, and he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of a Brewers victory.

In the years since, Peralta has expanded his fastball-heavy arsenal, signed a long contract extension (he has one more club option for 2026) and climbed the depth chart to make his first Opening Day start a year ago.

“I remember going to [Denver] in the black SUV," Peralta said. “When I got there, it was crazy -- the noises and all that. And look now, how I’ve been growing in this game on the field and outside of the field, too. I have a very nice family with my [two] kids.”

Said Murphy, who has been on Milwaukee’s staff for the entirety of Peralta’s MLB career: “The great thing is that he’s still got growth. There’s a step to take. I love to see that, because I never think of a guy as a grizzled vet when they still have that step to take.”

Peralta’s most obvious step still to take is efficiency. His 17.7 pitches per inning last season was sixth highest among the 126 pitchers who topped 100 innings last season. That’s not entirely surprising for a pitcher with Peralta’s swing and miss -- he ranked in the 87th percentile in whiff percentage, according to Statcast -- but Brewers officials see a path to better consistency as Peralta heads into his eighth season.

Asked about his aims for 2025, Peralta said, "The goals are the same: stay healthy. It's the most important [thing] for a starting pitcher, without thinking about what is going to happen at the end. I know I'm going to have ups and downs, but stay true, stay on the line for the most time I can in the season and everything is going to be fine."

Here’s another potential area for growth: leadership. The Brewers lost a significant presence when shortstop Willy Adames signed with the Giants in the offseason, not only because of his big personality but his ability to have hard conversations with teammates when necessary. Peralta is similarly respected, but he admitted that he has a harder time initiating tough talks.

“Behind the scenes, I’m always there for the guys,” Peralta said. “The only difference between me and him is, he’s not afraid to speak. If he has to say something to somebody, he just says it. He earned his respect. Me, I know when we need something, but sometimes I don’t want to make other people feel bad or think that I’m talking too much.

“But I cannot complain. I have had the respect of everyone here for years. I feel comfortable knowing that everyone sees me that way as a leader. I’m just trying to figure it out now. Let’s see how we take care of everything.”