Prospect Peralta called up; Anderson hits DL
Crew's No. 9 prospect to make first start Sunday vs. Rockies
DENVER -- Dominican-born Brewers pitching prospect Freddy Peralta's parents have never seen him pitch professionally. That was supposed to change Saturday night at Triple-A Colorado Springs.
How about a Major League debut on Sunday at Coors Field instead?
When Brewers starter Chase Anderson was scratched from his Saturday start with an illness, the Brewers bumped Brent Suter up a day to pitch a 4-0 loss to the Rockies and summoned the entire Peralta family to Denver, where the 21-year-old right-hander will become the youngest Brewers starting pitcher since Yovani Gallardo in 2007.
"At first, I didn't really believe it," Peralta said. "But after a while, I thought, 'It's true. I'm here, and we've got to go.'"
Anderson was still feeling lousy late Saturday, so the Brewers placed him on the 10-day disabled list. They optioned reliever Alec Asher back to Colorado Springs after only one day with the team and recalled a fresh relief option in Jorge Lopez, along with Peralta.
Peralta's father, Pedro, and mother, Octavia, will be at the game, along with Peralta's girlfriend.
"They came last night with a purpose, to see me pitch [Saturday]," Peralta said. "When it was time to stretch and they didn't see me out there, they were kind of worried. They didn't know where I was. They didn't know what to think. When I called and told them the news, they couldn't hold it in. They were emotional, crying. It was awesome."
Peralta, who was one of three teenage pitchers acquired in a trade with the Mariners for Adam Lind at the 2015 Winter Meetings, was 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA and a Pacific Coast League-leading 46 strikeouts at Colorado Springs.
The Brewers will backdate Anderson's DL stint to Wednesday or Thursday.
"I don't know what it came from," said Anderson. "Maybe something I ate. I don't know, honestly."
After a sleepless night, Anderson alerted assistant athletic trainer Dave Yeager at about 1:30 p.m. local time that he was sick. The Brewers made it official about two hours before the game that Suter would start instead.
He saw a Rockies doctor, then retreated to his hotel room with lots of bottled water and Pedialyte.
"Basically, this comes down to we did not believe Chase was going to be able to pitch [Sunday]," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "We're essentially skipping a start."