Luis Peralta and some Rockies pitching trends

The young, exciting lefty talent is part of a growing trend within the Rockies’ pitching scouting and development.

It’s well documented that the Colorado Rockies have tried all sorts of pitching ideas and philosophies throughout their now more than three decades of existence, most not turning out all that well, even after experiencing initial success. Eventually, all game plans have fallen under the inevitable weight of Coors Field and its thin air, the proverbial boogeyman for pitchers all over the baseball world.

There is no solution: There is only getting lucky.

Or at least, that’s the perception most have.

As of 2024, the Rockies clearly don’t buy into that doomsday theory. Quietly, the organization is in the midst of developing a set of strong ideas as it pertains to pitching, and lefty reliever Luis Peralta is one of the best examples of this change in methods.

Let’s talk a little bit about Peralta, what makes him exciting, and how his skillset relates to what the Rockies seem to be looking for as of late.

Who Is Luis Peralta?

Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates at just 17 back in 2017, Luis is the younger brother of current Milwaukee Brewers’ ace Freddy Peralta. He spent the first five seasons of his career mainly deployed as a four-inning starter and multi-inning reliever, getting what amounted to mostly underwhelming results. He flashed big-time strikeout potential but also far too much wildness.

By the end of 2023, the young lefty’s career seemed at an impasse, nearing 23 and having never thrown a pitch past A-ball.

It was then that the Pirates decided to pull the plug on his starter/reliever hybrid role and move him to the bullpen full-time, and what a decision it’s turned out to be. Peralta pitched his first game at High-A on April 6th and decimated the minors for Pittsburgh, striking out around 40% of batters faced across High-A and Double-A and keeping the walks in check.

On July 29th, the Pirates traded him to Colorado in exchange for veteran left-hander Jalen Beeks.

The trade did not seem to rattle Peralta at all, who kept on dealin’ in his new organization and eventually made his talent too obvious to ignore. Peralta made his MLB debut on August 24, roughly four and a half months after throwing his first ever pitch at High-A.

This video of his debut provides a good look at Peralta’s delivery and two pitches: a lively mid-90’s fastball and low-80’s breaking ball with two-planed movement.

Much like his brother Freddy, Luis is not that tall for a hurler — he stands just 5’11” — but he packs a lot of explosion in that frame.

Although he’s not quite as funky as his cross-bodied sibling, Peralta has some deception of his own, as his low three-quarters slot pairs with his short frame to create a fairly unique lefty heater. Of the 197 lefties to toss at least 50 pitches in MLB this year, Peralta’s average release point of 5.37 feet is 32nd lowest, and his combination of low release, plus lefty velocity and good natural fastball movement is exceedingly rare.

This upshot, low-slot fastball is the backbone of his repertoire and plan of attack, as well as a perfect adaptation for altitude (as I examined roughly a year ago) thanks to its flat angle and good velocity. If I were to get in a hypothetical lab and design a perfect fastball for a Rockies lefty within realistic human limitations, it wouldn’t be all that different from the one Peralta throws.

Of course, the young lefty also throws a pretty nice breaking ball, too. It’s a sort of slider-curveball hybrid, the best ones getting to about 83 mph with good movement. Along with consistent improvements to his feel and command, further refinement of this breaking ball — perhaps throwing it harder, as some other Rockies relievers have been doing with their secondaries — could take Peralta from a good reliever to a true high-leverage lefty in a good bullpen, making him a foundational piece of what the organization surely hopes is the next great Rockies pitching staff.

But what really interests me about Luis Peralta is that he, along with a few others, is the spearhead of what could be an excellent generation of Rockies pitchers. And within that class, many feature some of Peralta’s core traits.

This is not an isolated case — the DNA of his brand of pitcher is all over this system.

The Trends Peralta Represents

We’ve discussed some of Peralta’s main traits, specifically the low release point and upshot fastball it creates. But the young flamethrower is far from the lone hurler in this organization built in that manner—in fact, there are so many that it can only be considered a trend.

Among lefties, there’s Sean Sullivan and his incredibly deceptive cross-body 89-90 mph fastball, currently terrorizing the minors:

You also have Carson Palmquist with his athletic sidearm delivery, tantalizingly close to the majors:

And although they’ve been hurt, Lucas Gilbreath and Evan Justice apply here too, as well as some less-known names like Welinton Herrera.

This low release point tendency extends to the righties too, with the big league roster already featuring the likes of Ryan Feltner, Victor Vodnik, Jaden Hill and more. Even a pair of sinkerballers like Jake Bird and Justin Lawrence apply, as well as all-world prospect Chase Dollander, who pairs plus velo with a low release point and superb fastball movement to create a plus-plus fastball:

In general, the Rockies system is littered with pitchers that feature low release points, which is already an interesting revelation. When also taking into account the aggressive philosophy the organization showed in this year’s draft, acquiring pitchers who all featured at least one plus trait to build a big league pitcher around, the picture begins to take shape.

The Rockies have clearly revamped the way they think about pitching acquisition and development, and two methods/ideas seem to be coming to the forefront:

• Low release points and, as consequence, upshot fastballs. Not coincidentally, this fastball profile is the best for swing-and-miss at high altitude. No ballpark rewards a pitcher for punching a batter out as much as Coors does, a direct result of the damage done on contact. As such, the ability to strike guys out is a must for most to succeed in Denver.
• A general search for outlier talent. In many ways, taming the beast known as Coors Field requires a very straightforward answer: good pitchers. The Rockies have clearly embraced that idea, now appearing to hunt for generally gifted hurlers who possess at least one trait or skill that makes them different. Vanilla pitchability types rarely thrive at the big league level—outliers do.

Will this approach be the one to finally crack the code?

Who knows, really.

Along with pitch theory, there are many other aspects of a good pitching development program: recovery, mental preparation, scouting and preparation, and so on and so forth. But I will say, without hesitation, that an aggressive and proactive philosophy is what’s needed to survive and flourish in Coors Field.

And at the end of the day, that’s the goal we all want them to accomplish, is it not?

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