Milwaukee Brewers: What to do with Freddy Peralta?

Milwaukee Brewers starter Freddy Peralta was pummeled in his return from injury on Thursday afternoon. What should the team do with him now?

Freddy Peralta started the year off with a rocky start, improved, struggled, got hurt, and is still having a rough time. Should the Milwaukee Brewers let Peralta work out his issues in the Minors? Is a bullpen stint the cure? Or should they just let him sink or swim in the rotation?

How bad was Peralta on Thursday?

He was tagged for nine runs, six earned, on eight hits and three walks. He struck out three, but was tagged for a pair of home runs. Both blasts came with a runner on base.

To be completely fair to Peralta, a key error from Orlando Arcia in the second inning opened the door for a Rockies rally. The Brewers will already down 4-0 at that point, but it wasn’t all on Peralta.

His ERA sits at 8.31, and his WHIP sits at 1.53.

Will he get another start?

In the Majors? In 2019? Probably at least one or two more, but the Milwaukee Brewers have real playoff aspirations this year. Allowing Peralta to get battered while watching the number in the loss column climb isn’t going to happen. Peralta should get another chance, but he’s on a short leash until September.

Does the bullpen make sense?

It’s a possibility, but probably not until 2020. Peralta has always worked as a starter, and he’s had success there, even in the Majors. He doesn’t have the ideal starter’s build or repertoire, but he showed that he can be a functional starter at the Major League level. He’s also only 22 years old, and should get another shot to stick in the Majors.

Could he get sent down?

That depends on the health of Chase Anderson and the eventual, possible return of Jimmy Nelson. It sounds like Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell is getting frustrated, and probably would have sent Peralta down already if he had another option. Burch Smith is the only real option at Triple-A, and he’s not a direction a contending team should go in.

Growing pains were inevitable with a young starting rotation, but 2019 has been hard to watch for Corbin Burnes and Peralta. Burnes is already back in a relief role, and Peralta is likely to pitch for the San Antonio Missions at some point this year. The problem is that a contender like the Milwaukee Brewers can’t afford to stay patient. Moves will get made in the next few days, and Peralta shouldn’t get too comfortable in Milwaukee unless he can turn his season around quickly.