Yankees Broaden Pitching Search: Freddy Peralta Emerges as High-Upside Trade Target

The Yankees are looking for a starting pitcher this offseason. The Athletic is reporting the Yankees in talks with multiple teams for a starter, including the Brewers for Freddy Peralta.

About Freddy Peralta

In 2025, Peralta fully leaned into his identity as a four-pitch starter, a significant evolution from his early career where he relied on his fastball nearly 80% of the time. The secret to his success this year was the stabilization of his Horizontal Release Point, which moved roughly eight inches further from his midline compared to 2023.

This change enhanced the deception of his disappearing fastball -- a pitch that sits in the mid-90s but features an elite +0.85 degree vertical approach angle. This flat angle makes it incredibly difficult for hitters to catch up to the top of the zone. Furthermore, Peralta’s increased trust in his 90 mph changeup and 84 mph curveball allowed him to keep hitters from sitting on the heater, resulting in a career-high 3.6 WAR and his second consecutive 200-strikeout season.

Peralta’s four-seamer remains his bread and butter. Because it is thrown from a lower, wider release point, the ball appears to rise as it enters the zone, leading to a high volume of pop-ups and swings-and-misses under the ball. This high-spin, high-efficiency profile is exactly why he thrived in Milwaukee; even when hitters made contact, they often produced the lazy flyballs that remained in the ballpark, something that changed on the road.

His Changeup/Slider combination is something the Yankees seem to look for in their pitchers, and that is no different for Peralta. His slider is his put-away pitch to get strikeouts, something the Yankees should seek more of. The changeup is among one of the nastier pitches in baseball, and is used by Peralta to steal fringe strikes.

Peralta's Fit in New York

In 2025, Peralta delivered a career-best performance, finishing with a 2.70 ERA and earning a top-five finish in the NL Cy Young race. However, much like Cabrera, there is a notable gap between his actual results and his expected metrics (xERA), largely influenced by his home environment at American Family Field.

The most critical difference is the HR/9. Peralta allowed more than double the rate of home runs on the road compared to at home. In Milwaukee, he was able to use his high-spin fastball to generate lazy flyballs that stayed in the park, whereas on the road, those same pitches were more frequently punished. Like I referenced when talking about Cabrera, Yankee Stadium frequently yields the long ball, and that might be a vice to Peralta if he were to become a Yankee.

Peralta’s WHIP (Walks + Hits per Innings Pitched) was nearly 30% higher on the road. This suggests that his command or comfort level was slightly lower away from American Family Field, leading to more traffic on the bases and higher-stress innings.

While his strikeout rate remained high in both settings, his home K/9 of 11.2 is truly elite, reflecting his ability to put hitters away more efficiently when pitching in his home environment.

New Interest/What a Package could Look Like

Brewers Fanatic reported on January 12th that sources indicated that the Brewers are  "moving toward a deal". The team in the lead -- the Yankees.

We know the two sides have had multiple conversations and a package would be centered around Luis Gil. The Brewers are looking at young pitching, and that is something the Yankees have a lot of depth in.

Given the depth the Brewers have in their outfield, Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones would not need to be included in this trade. That means the Yankees should not be waiting on Cody Bellinger to sign before making this trade.

A deal for Peralta could look like this (Note: This projection also includes the Yankees acquiring reliever Trevor MeGill, who the Yankees have interest in):