Luis Perales made his Nationals Spring Training debut in the 4th inning versus the New York Mets yesterday, recording a scoreless inning with one walk allowed. He allowed 3 hard hit balls, but none found grass, with 2 flyouts and a lineout to center allowed.
During his 24-pitch outing, Perales threw 33% fastballs and 67% cutters, another example of the anti-fastball revolution the Nationals pitching staff has embarked upon under the new regime. Interestingly enough, MLB recorded Perales as throwing 16 cutters during his outing, but others, such as Thomas Nestico of TJStats on X, tracked him as throwing 12 sliders and 4 cutters, with the sliders having just a little more break and a little less velocity. Nevertheless, Perales’ arsenal looked very impressive in the short outing.
While all 3 pitches looked sharp, the one that stands out the most is his 4-seam fastball, which he sat 99.6 MPH with and ran up to 100.5 MPH in his outing. Triple-digit fastballs aren’t exactly rare in today’s game, but what is is the movement he gets on the pitch. Perales’ fastball averaged 18.1 inches of vertical break in his outing yesterday, ranking in the top 60 in that category among all pitchers in the majors. Of pitchers who average at least 99 MPH on their heater, like Perales, only Brewers closer Trevor Megill had more IVB on average with his fastball.
It’s no wonder with the velocity and movement that Perales’ 4-seam has that his stuff+ rating on the pitch was a whopping 124, meaning it is 24% better than the average 4-seam fastball in baseball. Not only that, but according to Thomas Nestico’s stuff+ rankings on fastballs, Perales’ heater would have been the highest rated fastball in the bigs in 2025, eclipsing the aforementioned Megill at 119, Mason Miller at 118, and Ryan Helsley, Chase Burns, and Aroldis Chapman at 117. Pretty good company for your fastball to be in.
The fastball is ridiculously good, but the slider is extremely impressive as well, sitting low 90s with tight spin. It graded out with a 116 stuff+ according to Nestico’s formula, which would’ve ranked in the top 10 in the majors in 2025, just under Mason Miller’s slider and just above Jacob deGrom’s.
There are still issues to iron out for Perales, such as command issues and adding another pitch to his arsenal, but the stuff to be a high-end starter, or an elite reliever at least, is all there. The other key for him will be continued health, as he builds back further and further from his Tommy John Surgery. He will likely start the season in Rochester, where I am excited to see how he progresses throughout the year.