Freddy Peralta’s ERA now sits at 4.81 following Wednesday’s outing against Toronto, where he lasted just four innings and surrendered five earned runs. His stock on the trade market has been on a steady decline. After tossing 5.2 scoreless frames against the Cubs, his ERA has crept back toward the 4.83 mark it sat at immediately after Philadelphia shelled him back on June 20th, part of a 15-3 Mets loss.
This latest blow to Peralta’s trade value resurrects the same concerns that were circulating about him roughly ten days ago. But while the Blue Jays were roughing him up, they were also doing a number on another Mets trade piece, Cionel Perez.
Perez entered the contest sporting a 3.45 ERA and having issued just one walk across 15.2 innings in Queens. The four earned runs he allowed over 1.1 frames pushed that number up to 5.29. Signed as a minor league free agent after being cut loose earlier this season, the Mets had been getting solid results from him up until recently. Perez has slid from a potential trade asset that might net a lottery-ticket prospect to someone who could find himself outright removed from the active roster.
Cionel Perez has gone from fringe trade candidate for the Mets to a player opposing front offices are likely content to wait out until he’s let go.
Perez’s only other significant meltdown came in that same Phillies game where Peralta got knocked around. He gave up three earned runs across two innings that night. When deployed as the opener against Philadelphia on June 28th, he fared far better, turning in a nine-pitch, scoreless inning that featured two strikeouts.
Historically a reliable ground-ball pitcher, Perez has curiously already served up four home runs in his brief Mets tenure. Add those to the two he allowed with Washington, and it appears he’s traded his control for a far more punishing outcome: free passes around the bases for opposing hitters.
The Mets were never in a position to demand much for Perez in a trade anyway. With fellow lefties Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter representing more established rental options from the left side, New York will already be fielding plenty of calls from clubs hunting for bullpen help. Perez is likely someone’s third or fourth fallback.
A properly constructed Mets roster probably wouldn’t have much use for Perez going forward. And the Mets are far from properly constructed, with position players out of their natural spots and relievers bouncing between ill-defined, ever-shifting roles.
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