The New York Mets naming Freddy Peralta as their Opening Day starter on Friday clearly indicates that the club is seeing him as someone who can lead the rotation in the future. The Mets look to be heading in the right direction to accomplish that, with Peralta heading to free agency at the end of the year.
Peralta was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to New York earlier in the offseason. He is coming off a 17-6, 2.70 ERA season in 2025. The Brewers would have been aware that they would be outbid by other big-market clubs when Peralta’s free agency came, and so decided to trade him alongside reliever Tobias Myers for prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat.
On Friday, Peralta spoke to reporters about a possible contract extension. He gave an initial two-word reaction before opening up about his time in the Mets’ Spring Training camp so far.
“No comment,” Peralta said about the extension.
“What I can say is that everything has been amazing, talking from the bottom to the top, people in the front office, everyone,” Peralta added. “They’ve been very easy for me, easy to work with, and I’m just happy because I feel they have my back.”
Later on Friday, Peralta took the mound for the Mets for the first time in their Grapefruit League game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He was dominant, pitching three perfect innings with three strikeouts as the Mets cruised to a 13-4 victory.
The 29-year-old starter will make his regular-season debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field on March 26. If the Pirates name defending National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes as their Opening Day starter, it will easily rank as one of the best starter duels to start the season. Peralta finished fifth in last year’s NL Cy Young voting.
Freddy Peralta Reveals Key Reason Behind Joining Spring Training Camp Early
Freddy Peralta was one of the first players to join the New York Mets Spring Training camp. He was aware of the management’s expectations of him after the blockbuster trade and thus decided to take more time to get in shape.
“I thought for some reason before I came here [I might feel I have to prove something]. That’s one of the reasons I came really early. I didn’t know what to expect and what I was going to see here. I came early because I wanted to know and wanted to learn,” Peralta said on Friday.
“But man, people from the weight room, the strength and conditioning guys, they’re amazing. They’ve showed me a lot of things that I can use to keep me the best version of myself on the field. I thought it was going to be hard, but it wasn’t.”
Peralta will lead a Mets rotation that requires a boost after a disappointing 2025 season. Nolan McLean turned out to have a breakout year, but behind him, the rotation still looks shaky with starters Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and David Peterson.
