Freddy Peralta DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta got his season off to a strong start despite a tough environment on the road at Yankee Stadium. Peralta had eight strikeouts in five innings while giving up four hits and two earned runs. Both runs he allowed were on solo home runs from Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe in the first two innings. The 28-year-old took the loss even though he kept his team in the game and departed with the score just 2-1. He only worked five innings since his pitch count was at 93, so he'll need to improve his efficiency to work deeper into games to be an elite fantasy option. His strikeouts were encouraging, though, and he'll look to build on his momentum in his next start, which lines up to be next week at home against the Royals.

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy said on Wednesday that right-hander Freddy Peralta will be the team's Opening Day starter in 2025 on March 27 against the New York Yankees. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise for the Brew Crew with right-hander Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) likely to open the year on the injured list. It will be the second straight Opening Day start for the 28-year-old Peralta, and it won't be a great matchup for fantasy purposes against the Bronx Bombers. Peralta went 11-9 with a 3.68 ERA (4.16 FIP) and 1.21 WHIP with 200 strikeouts and 68 walks in a career-high 173 2/3 innings over 32 starts in 2024. It was the second straight year he reached the 200-strikeout mark, but that type of production is probably the ceiling at this point in his career as he heads into his eighth year in Milwaukee. Target Peralta as a safe No. 3 fantasy starter in drafts this spring.

The Milwaukee Brewers will be picking up their 2025 club option on starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, according to Jon Heyman of the NY Post. The 28-year-old operated as the ace of the Milwaukee rotation in 2024 and held a 3.68 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, with a 68:200 BB:K ratio across 173 2/3 frames of work. Under the hood, the right-hander boasted a solid 36.9% hard-hit rate and a 27.6% K rate. However, he held a below-average 8.7% barrel rate and a 37.4% ground-ball rate. Fantasy managers should expect Peralta to continue to operate as the lead of the Milwaukee rotation and be a safe bet to improve your WHIP ratio as he sits with a strong career 1.15 WHIP.