Brewers' Freddy Peralta excelling in starting role
Freddy Peralta has looked excellent thus far as a starter, and NBC Sports EDGE's D.J. Short thinks there's still plenty of room to grow for the talented 24-year-old hurler.
Video Transcript
DJ SHORT: Brewers right hander Freddy Peralta was awesome as a bulk reliever for the club last season, but he's getting another chance as a starter this year, and it looks like he doesn't plan to give up his spot without a fight. Peralta dominated the Cubs in back-to-back starts recently, including 10 strikeouts over six innings of one run ball on April 12. The 24-year-old has flashed an impressive upside in the past, but he's looking like a different pitcher these days even if you compare him to last year. Peralta has dramatically increased the usage of his slider so far this season, somewhere in the measure of 30 percentage points.
The pitch is straight up nasty and getting an obscene number of whips. He's also beginning to introduce a changeup to keep hitters honest. We're seeing the evolution of a pitcher here with Peralta with the outstanding questions being the ability to throw strikes and what sort of workload he'll have throughout the year. But enjoy the show for now. More awesome pitching, just with the Brewers need, right?
