Milwaukee Brewers: What To Do With Wily Peralta

Not too long ago, Wily Peralta was demoted from the starting rotation to the bullpen. While he was thought to have the ability to thrive in a bullpen role for the Milwaukee Brewers, the results have been anything but positive. What does this mean for the career of Wily Peralta and his role in Milwaukee?

Things have gone from bad to good, back to bad, and now to ugly in less than a season for Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Wily Peralta. After his demotion to the Minor Leagues in the middle of last season, Peralta was outstanding in his final ten starts of 2016, pitching to a 2.92 ERA in that time.

But Peralta’s downward spiral has continued.

He just can’t succeed anywhere right now. Only facing a lineup one time was supposed to improve his effectiveness and lower his ERA. However, the exact opposite has happened. After allowing four runs in Monday’s game against the Pirates, it seems as though a change may come soon for Peralta.

Peralta was successful last season after a stint in the Minors and it may be time to send him down again. Brent Suter has been up and down a lot this season but premature, non-injury related exits generally mean something’s about to change. Suter is one of a couple of options the Brewers could use to improve their bullpen.

Should Peralta Go To The Minors?

Normally, Peralta wouldn’t meet the same fate as Neftali Feliz, who was DFA’ed last week and just released on Monday. Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns has said he isn’t giving up on Wily Peralta. His 97 MPH fastball is likely the reason why. But there might be a decent chance Peralta is designated for assignment in the near future.

You would think the Brewers could just option Peralta to Colorado Springs like last season and let him work it out, right? Wrong. Peralta is out of Minor League options. The only way to send him down now is to designate him for assignment. That puts him on waivers, making him available to every other Major League team. Peralta is likely to be claimed by another team if he’s DFA’d.

Frankly, the Brewers aren’t ready to let Peralta go for nothing in return. Peralta’s sinker has been ineffective. That’s been a major problem for him of late. His ERA now stands at 7.21 and his 28 walks are most on the team despite throwing 30 fewer innings than starters Jimmy Nelson and Chase Anderson.

What Should the Brewers Do?

The Milwaukee Brewers have three options they can take with Wily Peralta.

Option 1.  Just DFA him and hope he doesn’t get claimed so he can be put in the minors.

Option 2. Ride it out and hope he improves in his limited chances coming out of the bullpen.

Option 3. Try to trade him for whatever value that you can.

The risk is too high for Peralta to get claimed off waivers. If the Brewers still have hope for him, he won’t get DFA’ed. Trading him now would get the Brewers practically nothing in return. The most likely option is to ride it out for now and perhaps trade him when he improves. He may even garner a decent return package.

Next: Who's On The Brewers Roster After The Latest Moves?

Peralta has all the potential in the world to be a successful pitcher, but he just hasn’t clicked. With no Minor League options remaining, Peralta will stay with the Milwukee Brewers for a little while longer. But if he improves enough to attract a trade offer to David Stearns’ liking, Peralta could be on his way out of town. It’s unknown how much longer the team would be willing to stick with a struggling reliever considering the Brewers are still in playoff contention. The wait and see is approach is still the best course of action…for now.