headtopics
In Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Tropicana Field, the Milwaukee Brewers will encounter a familiar face standing in their path: Freddy Peralta, a cherished figure from their recent past. Baseball has a knack for scripting such ironic reunions.
For eight seasons, Peralta was the embodiment of the Brewers' rotation—a perpetually smiling, hard-throwing right-hander whose blazing fastball and infectious energy endeared him to Milwaukee fans. Now, he will try to prevent his former club from seizing a 3-0 stranglehold on the Fall Classic.
"I know Freddy is the right guy to pitch Game 3 with us in a two-game deficit," Rays manager Kevin Cash said on Sunday, expressing confidence in his starter.
Peralta's journey to this moment has been circuitous. Acquired by the Rays from the Mets at the trade deadline, he was envisioned as the arm Tampa Bay could rely on when the season hung in the balance—a scenario that seemed improbable in August but has now become reality.
Milwaukee holds a 2-0 series lead, and a loss on Monday would leave the Rays needing to win four consecutive games. It is a daunting task against a Brewers team that never quits, always grinds, and is peaking at the perfect time. With little margin for error, Tampa Bay is turning to Peralta as its best hope to create some.
The situation is steeped in strangeness that neither clubhouse can ignore. The Brewers traded Peralta to the Mets in January, a move he anticipated. His contract expires after this season, and he is set to hit free agency; Milwaukee preferred to receive something in return rather than lose him for nothing. Such is the reality of small-market economics, an open secret in Milwaukee, though it does not make the parting any easier.
To the Brewers' fan base, Peralta was never just a rental. He was a homegrown success story—a two-time All-Star, a Cy Young-caliber pitcher, and a fixture in the rotation. Now, he will stand 60 feet, six inches away from former friends and try to strike them out when it matters most.
"It is a little weird," Peralta admitted on Saturday at American Family Field about facing the Brewers in the World Series. "I've been trying to focus on what I have to focus on, because even when I came out yesterday for practice, all the people, all the fans here were showing me some love, screaming my name. Also, when I went to the bullpen last night, they were telling me, 'We still love you.' It's amazing. I just have to be professional and keep everything in the right direction and know my goal."
Peralta has already faced the Brewers once this year, on July 20, while still with the Mets. Those hitters—former longtime teammates and friends he would invite to his house for team dinners—know exactly what he throws. They have seen the ride on his fastball from their defensive positions. Brewers catcher William Contreras, the hottest hitter of this postseason, has caught Peralta's signature pitch countless times. The Brewers' front office, which signed and developed him, knows his makeup inside and out. Peralta, in turn, knows their swings, their habits, and where they like to do damage. Familiarity cuts both ways, and neither side can count on a surprise.
"I love that kid, man, I just do," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of his former ace. "If you're around him every day, like this kid is just joyful. It's just a beautiful spirit that comes to do his job. He doesn't look at himself as better than others. He's just a great teammate. You can't be around him for a while and not feel warm."
Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby echoed those sentiments. "Everyone in our clubhouse was around him last year for the most part, and he's like one of the best teammates you can have. He's an unbelievable pitcher, but just the same, exact, awesome, fun dude every single day. He was a huge part of our organization's success, and everyone over there in our clubhouse loves that dude. Excited for him and what's to come for him. I hope we compete our butts off against him tomorrow."
Those who know Peralta best describe him as someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, sporting the biggest smile and carrying positive energy into every room. On the mound, however, he is competitive and cutthroat. The goal is to treat the Brewers as just another lineup, but the reality is that it is hard to forget a place that embraced you. Peralta believes he can rise above the noise in his head and any difficult emotions that may surface.
"I want to make something clear," Peralta said. "When I'm on the mound, I see everything like a competition. I know that they want to do damage against me, they want to score some runs. And I am trying to limit the damage, and I'm trying to get some outs. That's the way that I see it. I know that I have a lot of friends, even on other teams before. I remember when I got traded here, I had to face the Mets. It was probably like two weeks later after I got traded, and it was the same. I know that sometimes you have people that you love on the other side, but you have to do what you have to do. Then everything takes care of itself."
Peralta has allowed two earned runs in three postseason starts at Tropicana Field this month. After a difficult stint with the Mets—posting a 4.99 ERA and -0.5 WAR over 22 starts—he found new life with the Rays, going 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts and earning American League Pitcher of the Month honors for September. That turnaround stemmed from the Rays' attentiveness to his needs: they identified the problem, communicated it effectively, and watched him go to work.
"Everything changed when I got traded," Peralta said earlier this month before his first postseason start as a Ray. "I've been treated here as a king, and I feel really good about it. They're working me really well here."
If his second-half resurgence was impressive, Peralta's October has been even more remarkable. He went 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA in three appearances against the Guardians, including two starts, and was named ALCS MVP. He tossed six scoreless innings in Game 2 and recorded two crucial outs in relief in Game 4, leaning heavily on the four-seam fastball that made him a star in Milwaukee—a pitch that utterly baffled Cleveland.
That version of Peralta is exactly what the Rays need now. Aside from a four-run first inning in Game 2, Tampa Bay has struggled against Milwaukee's pitching, and the silence in their clubhouse after Saturday's loss spoke volumes. In a short series, one exceptional outing can swing everything, and the Rays are asking a lot of Peralta. He must keep the Brewers' offense in check, give the bullpen a chance to protect a lead, and, above all, give his new home crowd something to believe in again.
For Peralta, all his years in Milwaukee—which meant so much to him and to those who watched him grow up in a Brewers uniform—will linger in the background of every pitch.
"I didn't know what to expect," Peralta said. "I didn't know what to expect coming into this. I know very well that the Milwaukee fan base is a great one, that they support their players every single step of the way through, but things are different now. I'm on a different team, and at the end of the day, you're competing in the World Series."
Originally reported by headtopics.