What was Freddy Peralta like at 19?

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- As Freddy Peralta started a Major League game against his original franchise for the first time on Friday night, a 6-5 win over the Mariners that was a “walk-off victory” in the truest sense, it was worth remembering that he was not the most highly touted Dominican pitching prospect acquired by the Brewers in 2015.

That distinction belonged to Marcos Diplan, a fellow right-hander who began 2016 ahead of Peralta on MLB Pipeline’s prospect list and was far more polished. The Brewers got Diplan from the Rangers in the Yovani Gallardo trade. They picked up Peralta as one of three teenage pitchers from the Mariners for Adam Lind. Even though he was relatively new to pitching -- Peralta grew up a position player first -- it did not take long for Peralta to begin his charge up the prospect charts.

Eight years later, his success is absolutely critical to a Brewers club trying to stabilize the starting rotation around him. Colin Rea is bidding to back up last year’s success in a partial season. DL Hall is just beginning his career as a starter. Joe Ross and Aaron Ashby are pitching in the Majors for the first time since 2022. Wade Miley is just coming off the injured list and Jacob Junis just landed there.

Peralta, whose next start comes Thursday at the Reds, is the mainstay.

“He always had that energy and that smile on his face,” said former Brewers player development official Eduardo Brizuela, who is now with the Mets. “He was paired up with Diplan, and they were always together. Diplan was the prospect. He had the big signing bonus.

“But you could always tell Freddy was trying to get better. For a long time, his fastball was his only weapon. He was ‘Fastball Freddy.’ But he has an ability to outwork everyone.”

Peralta’s first manager in Milwaukee’s Minor League system, Matt Erickson, has a similar memory from their early days together with the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Brewers employed tandems at the lower level of the system, so Peralta and Diplan often pitched the same day, with one starting and the other following in relief, both for multiple innings.

They hoped Peralta’s work ethic would rub off.

“We would make it a point with our starting pitchers to use Freddy all the time as an example of what the work should look like between your starts,” Erickson said. “It was awesome to see in a 19-year-old kid. I’m not sure we’ve ever had one better in all my years.”

For many years, the first call from the Brewers to a newly acquired Spanish-speaking prospect came from Brizuela, and that was the case with Peralta. His first impression was that Peralta had intelligence and feel beyond his humble upbringing. When they met at the team’s complex in the Dominican Republic, Peralta’s energy was as explosive as his fastball.

They stayed close as Peralta developed into a well-rounded pitcher, adding a sweeper and a changeup to his fastball and occasional curveball. With Brandon Woodruff injured and Corbin Burnes traded to the Orioles last winter, Peralta was Brewers manager Pat Murphy’s easy choice to start Opening Day opposite David Stearns’ and Brizuela’s Mets. Peralta responded with six quality innings, the only Brewers starter to work beyond the fifth during the first full turn through the rotation.

There was a bittersweet feeling for Brizuela as he watched the Brewers sweep the Mets in the opening series. On Opening Day, someone with the Mets asked Brizuela’s 6-year-old son his favorite player.

“Very discreetly, he goes, ‘I can’t tell you, because he’s pitching for the other team,’” Brizuela said.

In Peralta, the Brewers have their new No. 1 starter.

“They got the right guy,” Brizuela said.