Peralta shows 'mental toughness' in finale

DETROIT -- Wily Peralta labored through a 29-pitch first inning Sunday that seemed to last forever, the right-hander taking his time. He used 100 pitches for just 4 2/3 innings, yet lasted that long because he never broke down and gave up a big inning, leaving to an ovation. Even in his struggles, he gave the Tigers a chance, which they nearly converted.

In that sense, Sunday’s 2-1 Tigers loss was a microcosm of Peralta’s season, a campaign that looked like it might never happen after he missed all of Spring Training due to travel issues and COVID protocols. Yet, his penultimate start of the 2021 season also presented both sides of the debate the Tigers face in whether to bring him back for another year.

“I would love to come back,” Peralta said. “I’m happy here. They treat me well. But right now, I don’t even think about that. I’ve got one more start left. After I finish that one, I’ll probably think about it. But right now I’m just trying to finish strong, trying to do the best that I can.”

Peralta’s best has been surprisingly good, especially for a pitcher with a low strikeout rate (5.6 per nine innings). When he’s on, he has been the prototype Comerica Park pitcher, inducing quick fly-ball outs and keeping hitters from centering his mistakes. His splitter has been filthy, producing the second-lowest weighted on-base average (wOBA) and expected batting average among pitchers who have thrown at least 250 splitters this season according to Statcast. Only Shohei Ohtani’s splitter has been better.

When he hasn’t been on, he has been slow but pragmatic, providing innings without suffering crooked numbers. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in a start in six outings since Aug. 14, and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a game since July 28.

“He’s got mental toughness,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He doesn’t cave and concede. He’s not a guy who’s going to throw the ball right down the middle. He’s going to continue to hang in there and make his pitches, and he’s got secondary weapons that can rescue him from some bad situations.”

Sunday was one of those games. Peralta gave up eight hits Sunday, including three with exit velocities over 104 miles per hour according to Statcast. He endured because none of those hits went for more than a double. He left with two runs allowed instead of four in part because Salvador Perez’s fourth-inning drive to center -- a ball with a .770 expected batting average -- went for a 397-foot out.

Not since Spencer Turnbull on Sept. 1, 2019, had a Tiger thrown 100 pitches in a start without completing five innings. No Tiger had done so while allowing two runs or less since Jeremy Bonderman on April 24, 2008.

“Today wasn’t one of my best days,” Peralta said. “I struggled with my command, but I still battled and made pitches.”

Peralta couldn’t do anything about the Tigers' offense, which struggled through seven scoreless innings against Kris Bubic before nearly tying it in the ninth off Scott Barlow. Isaac Paredes’ double down the left-field line would’ve driven in two, but it hopped into the stands for a ground-rule double, stopping potential tying run Eric Haase at third. After a Niko Goodrum strikeout and an intentional walk to Robbie Grossman that loaded the bases, pinch-hitter Harold Castro worked a 3-2 count before fanning on a slider that he foul-tipped.

The only time the Tigers have been blown out with Peralta on the mound was an 8-3 loss to the Angels on June 19, his second Tigers start. He has more than delivered on the Minor League contract the Tigers offered him in February. The question that will face general manager Al Avila soon is whether to retain him as he nears free agency with a more impressive resume than he could present to teams last offseason.

Even with the continued influx of young pitching, there’s a fit for the 32-year-old Peralta in Detroit. Veteran Matthew Boyd will have surgery on Monday to repair a torn flexor tendon, putting his future in question. Turnbull won’t be back until late next season, if not 2023, following Tommy John surgery earlier this year. The only Tigers starters seemingly guaranteed spots for next year are youngsters Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning, though Tyler Alexander has made a case to stick in the rotation.

“He’s certainly somebody that we want to at least talk to and see where his priorities are,” Hinch said a couple days earlier. “But the Boyd situation is separate to Wily.”