Cardinals Designate Luis Peralta For Assignment
The Cardinals designated lefty Luis Peralta for assignment Friday, the team announced. His 40-man roster spot goes to fellow southpaw Jared Shuster, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Memphis. The Cards opened an active roster spot by optioning righty Hunter Dobbins to Triple-A following yesterday’s season debut.
St. Louis only claimed Peralta off waivers out of the Rockies organization three days ago. He’s yet to even pitch in a game in their system and will now be in limbo for up to a week as he awaits the outcome of this morning’s DFA. The Cardinals will have five days to either trade Peralta or place him back on outright waivers. Since outright waivers are a 48-hour process, it could take up to seven days for a resolution.
The 25-year-old Peralta has pitched in parts of two big league seasons, both with the Rockies. He’s logged 31 1/3 MLB frames and been charged with 21 earned runs (6.03 ERA) on 33 hits, 23 walks and four hit batters. He’s fanned 30 of his 150 opponents. Peralta is effectively a two-pitch reliever, working off a four-seamer that averages 94.7 mph and a curveball that sits 81.7 mph. He mixes in an extremely occasional mid-80s changeup; only two percent of his MLB pitches have been changeups.
Peralta had a huge 2024 season in the minors, logging a pristine 0.94 ERA with a 40.1% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate in 47 2/3 innings across three minor league levels. He’s been hit hard and missed time with a hip injury over the two subsequent seasons. If the Cardinals can succeed in passing him through waivers, he’ll have to head back to Triple-A Memphis, as he lacks the prior outright or three years of MLB service time needed to reject an outright assignment to the minors. He’s already been claimed once and has a pair of minor league options remaining, however, so it’s possible another club will scoop him up.
Shuster has already had one stint with the Cards this season. The 27-year-old pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed two runs before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment to Memphis.
A former first-round pick by the Braves, Shuster has pitched in parts of four major league seasons without much success. He owns a lifetime 5.26 ERA in 145 1/3 innings and has posted strikeout and walk rates that are both worse than league average. He’s been tagged for nine earned runs in 9 2/3 Triple-A frames this season.
It could very well be another short stay on the roster for Shuster. The Cardinals needed a fresh arm in the bullpen after Dobbins was chased in the fifth inning yesterday. They needed five relievers to get through the rest of the game. All five threw at least 15 pitches. Ryne Stanek and JoJo Romero have both pitched on consecutive days and combined for 37 and 38 pitches, respectively. The Cards would probably prefer to stay away from either, if possible.
Cardinals Claim Luis Peralta
The Cardinals have claimed left-hander Luis Peralta off waivers from the Rockies, according to announcements from both clubs. Colorado designated him for assignment last week. The Cards had an open 40-man spot and have optioned Peralta to Triple-A Memphis, so no corresponding moves are necessary.
Peralta, 25, is the younger brother of Freddy Peralta. The younger sibling was a starter earlier in his career but got moved to a relief role when he was a minor leaguer with the Pirates. He showed tremendous promise in that role in 2024, the year he was traded to the Rockies in a one-for-one swap for Jalen Beeks.
Between the two clubs, he tossed 47 2/3 minor league innings that year, allowing only 0.94 earned runs per nine. He did give out walks at a high rate of 11.2% but his 40.1% strikeout rate was massive and his 48.8% ground ball rate above average as well. He also got to make his big league debut and put up a 0.73 ERA in 12 1/3 innings.
Things have been going downhill since then, however. He had a 9.47 ERA in the majors last year and a 9.09 ERA at the Triple-A level. For Albuquerque, his 28% strikeout rate was still pretty good but his 15.4% walk rate way too high. In the majors, things were even worse, as his ghastly 17.8% walk rate was higher than his 15.8% strikeout rate. He began 2026 back at Triple-A but but allowed 14 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings while walking 13 opponents.
His velocity is down a bit as well. His four-seamer averaged 95 miles per hour in 2024 but dropped about half a tick last year and is now down to 93.5 miles per hour so far in 2026. His curveball and changeup have had similar drops.
The Rockies eventually gave up. Perhaps that’s because the new front office is less enamored of Peralta but it’s hard to fault them when looking at Peralta’s recent numbers. For the Cards, despite a 14-13 record at the moment, they have long planned for 2026 to be an evaluation year. They are less focused on immediate contention and more worried about long-term development.
They’ve had an open roster spot since Jared Shuster was designated for assignment two weeks ago. They are using that today to grab Peralta. Obviously, Peralta’s stock is down at the moment, but the Cards will see if there’s a path to getting him back to that 2024 form. Peralta can be optioned for the remainder of this year and one additional season as well. If things click, he has less than a year of service time, meaning he could be affordably controlled for years into the future.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Rockies Claim Blas Castaño, Designate Luis Peralta For Assignment
The Rockies have claimed right-handed Blas Castaño off waivers from the Mariners, according to announcements from both clubs. The righty had been designated for assignment by the Mariners a week ago. The Rockies have optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque. In a corresponding move, left-hander Luis Peralta has been designated for assignment.
Castaño, 27, was originally an international signing of the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic. He was released in the summer of 2023 and scooped up by the Mariners. He impressed his new club in 2024, posting a 4.38 earned run average in 125 1/3 minor league innings, spending most of that in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He was added to the 40-man roster in November of 2024 to keep him from reaching minor league free agency.
He has spent the past year-plus as a depth arm for the Mariners without being needed much. He has only made one big league appearance, which was a three-inning relief outing in May of last year.
He tossed 126 2/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma last year with a 5.19 ERA, in the unfriendly confines of the PCL. His 17.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate weren’t especially strong but he did induce grounders on 46% of balls in play. So far this year, he has been pitching out of the bullpen, throwing 6 1/3 innings over six appearances for the Rainiers. His 1.42 ERA in that small sample looks nice but his strikeout and ground ball rates are around the same level as last year.
The Mariners bumped him off their roster but the Rockies will take a shot on him. They may be attracted to his diverse pitch mix, something that has seemingly become an organizational preference. Statcast categorizes him as a five-pitch guy. He doesn’t throw his four-seamer often, leading instead with his sinker, in addition to a slider, cutter and changeup. His fastball and sinker average around 94 miles per hour, the cutter around 90, the changeup in the high-80s and the slider in the low-80s.
The Rockies could stretch him back out or keep in a relief role. They need pitching either way. They had a 5.99 ERA as a team last year, easily worst in the majors. They have a 4.40 mark so far this year, bumping them into them out of the bottom ten of MLB clubs, but in a much smaller number of games. Whether he’s working as a starter or a reliever, the Rockies can keep him at Triple-A until he’s needed. He can still be optioned for the remainder of this season and another season as well.
Peralta, 25, was acquired from the Pirates in the 2024 deadline deal which sent Jalen Beeks to Pittsburgh. Peralta, the younger brother of Freddy Peralta, showed some potential around the time of that trade but his stock has fallen.
Initially a starter, he was moved to a relief role by the Pirates. Between the Bucs and the Rockies, he tossed 47 2/3 minor league innings in 2024 with a 0.94 ERA. His 11.2% walk rate was high but he struck out 40.1% of opponents and induced grounders at a 48.8% clip. He also posted a 0.73 ERA in his first 12 1/3 big league innings.
2025 was a big step back, as he posted an ERA above 9.00 in both the majors and the minors. His 28% strikeout rate in Triple-A was still good but a big drop, while his walk rate climbed all the way up to 15.4%. In the majors, his 17.8% walk rate was worse than in the minors and also higher than his 15.8% strikeout rate, with both of those figures being well worse than average. So far this year, he has thrown 7 1/3 innings in Triple-A with a 31.1% strikeout rate but a 28.9% walk rate and 14 earned runs allowed.
Those struggles have nudged him off Colorado’s roster. DFA limbo can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Rockies could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. His recent numbers are obviously not good but perhaps some clubs see a path to getting him back to the dominant form he showed in 2024. He still has options and could be sent to the minors if any club acquires him in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Rockies Select Luis Peralta
The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Luis Peralta. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Tanner Gordon to Triple-A Albuquerque and transferred righty Germán Márquez to the 60-day injured list.
Peralta, 23, was just acquired from the Pirates last month in the Jalen Beeks trade. The younger brother of Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, Luis signed with the Pirates out of the Dominican Republic in 2017. He came up as a starter but has been moved into a relief role this year, with some encouraging results.
He has pitched at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A this year between his two organizations. Between all those different stops, he has logged 47 2/3 innings while only allowing five earned runs for a tiny ERA of 0.94. His 11.2% walk rate in that time is a bit high but he’s worked around that by striking out 40.1% of batters that have stepped to the plate.
He was going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and was likely going to get a roster spot in a few months’ time anyway, so the Rockies are jumping the gun and adding him now, which will allow them to get a look at him against major league hitters for a few weeks.
Gordon had been working out of the club’s rotation, so they will now have a hole there behind Cal Quantrill, Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber and Bradley Blalock. Right-hander Ryan Feltner landed on the 15-day IL on August 8 due to a right shoulder strain but could perhaps be coming back. Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball relayed on X last week that Feltner’s MRI came back clean and he could be back after something close to a minimal stint. He made a rehab appearance for Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday.
As for Marquez, it was reported a couple of weeks ago that he won’t be coming back this year due to some elbow inflammation, so this transfer to the 60-day IL was an inevitable formality. He’ll be on the 60-day IL for the rest of the year but will need to be reinstated in the days following the World Series, as the IL goes away until Spring Training.
Pirates Acquire Jalen Beeks From Rockies
The Pirates announced the acquisition of lefty reliever Jalen Beeks from the Rockies for minor league reliever Luis Peralta. Pittsburgh had an open spot on their 40-man roster after this afternoon’s trade with the Red Sox.
Colorado claimed Beeks off waivers from the Rays over the winter. Tampa Bay was evidently not planning to tender him a contract for his final season of arbitration. Rather than allow him to hit the market, Colorado took a flier and agreed to a modest $1.675MM salary. Beeks has had a generally productive season. He’s second on the Rox with 49 1/3 innings out of the bullpen and has pitched in their highest-leverage spots overall.
Beeks has worked to a 4.74 ERA in 45 appearances. He’s carrying a career-low 18% strikeout rate and 9.2% swinging strike percentage. Beeks has a league average 8.5% walk percentage and 44.7% grounder rate. He somewhat bizarrely had far more success at Coors Field than he did on the road for the Rox.
A former 12th round pick of the Red Sox, Beeks had a solid run as a long reliever for Tampa Bay between 2019-22. He combined for a 3.70 ERA with average strikeout and walk numbers in 184 2/3 frames over that stretch. Beeks allowed nearly six earned runs per nine last season, though, leading the Rays to move on.
Pittsburgh plugs him behind Aroldis Chapman as the second lefty in Derek Shelton’s bullpen. They’re assuming roughly $500K in salary for the stretch run. Beeks will surpass the six-year service threshold in September and hit free agency at the beginning of the offseason. Colorado didn’t have much incentive to keep him, so they’ll cash him in for an intriguing bullpen prospect.
Peralta, 23, is the younger brother of Brewers staff ace Freddy Peralta. The 5’11” southpaw signed with Pittsburgh out of the Dominican Republic in 2017. Peralta has divided his season between High-A and Double-A, turning in a 0.91 ERA over 39 2/3 innings. He’s striking out an eye-opening 41% of batters faced against an elevated 11.5% walk rate. Baseball America had Peralta as the #24 prospect in the Pittsburgh system, writing that he relies heavily on a mid-90s fastball with good life at the top of the strike zone. He’d be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter if Colorado doesn’t select him onto the 40-man roster.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand first reported the terms of the deal. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.