Top 10 Milwaukee Brewers Players Right Now: No. 5 Freddy Peralta

As we close in on the 2022 regular season, we continue the countdown of the top 10 Milwaukee Brewers players on the roster.

We’ve gone through the first half of the list, with newcomer Hunter Renfroe, third baseman Luis Urias, setup man Devin Williams, second baseman Kolten Wong, and shortstop Willy Adames.

Now we turn our attention to the no. 5 player on this list.

As we head into the 2022 season, which players make up the “top” of this roster? Here at Reviewing the Brew over the next few weeks we will rank the top 10 Brewers players right now one by one.

Top 10 Brewers Right Now: No. 5 Freddy Peralta

We’ve gone through half of the top 10 list so far and no one from the starting rotation has been discussed yet. That changes here with young Freddy Peralta coming in at number 5.

The Brewers originally acquired Freddy Peralta when he was a teenager in the famous Adam Lind trade with the Seattle Mariners, along with two other teenage pitchers. Those pitchers, Daniel Missaki and Carlos Herrera, never really turned into anything for the Crew. But for one year of control of a decent first baseman in Lind, the Mariners gave up three lottery tickets.

One of those lottery tickets had the winning numbers.

Freddy Peralta became a pretty solid prospect shortly after the trade, performing well in the lower levels of the minors and showcasing some nasty stuff.

It led the Brewers to call him up to make his MLB debut as a 21 year old on Mother’s Day in 2018. What a Mother’s Day it was! Peralta went 5.2 shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out 13 Rockies hitters. Freddy Peralta had arrived.

However, it was difficult for Peralta to find consistency, especially being such a young pitcher in the big leagues. He bounced back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen in 2018 and 2019.

Still, the Brewers saw enough in him to offer him a contract extension, which he signed in early spring of 2020. It was a five year, $15.5MM deal with a pair of club options on the end to make it a potential seven year contract. It was the financial security both the Brewers and Peralta were looking for. At the time, it was unclear if Peralta’s long-term role would be in the bullpen or the rotation.

In 2020, he spent most of the season in the bullpen. Many thought that’s where his role would be.

But then, in 2021, Peralta showed enough in spring training with the help of an expanded pitch arsenal for the Brewers to push him into the starting rotation and try him there again. This time, he found consistency and did not disappoint. He initially earned the 5th and final spot in the 2021 rotation, but as the season went on it became clear that Peralta was the third head of the three headed monster that leads Milwaukee’s rotation.

Peralta made 28 appearances last year, 27 of them being starts, with the only bullpen outing coming on Opening Day. He finished with 144.1 IP, a career-best 2.81 ERA, 12.2 K/9, and a 0.97 WHIP. His 5.2 H/9 would’ve been the lowest in league history had he had enough innings to qualify.

Now he enters 2022 firmly on the radar of everyone in baseball. He’s an All Star, he’s proven he can stick as a starter with his expanded arsenal, and he’s incredibly tough to hit. Peralta has earned his way to the No. 5 spot on our countdown of the top 10 Brewers players right now.

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The 25 year old Peralta continues to have a bright future ahead of him and is a core piece of the Brewers success both now and going forward.