The Washington Nationals have been one of the busiest teams in baseball so far this offseason. After making his first trade as the new President of Baseball Operations for the team, Paul Toboni has struck again.
After getting the Nationals their potential catcher of the future in Harry Ford after striking a deal with the Seattle Mariners fairly recently, Toboni went out and reunited with a familiar face from the Boston Red Sox in righty Luis Perales, giving up lefty Jake Bennett in the process.
So what exactly can Nationals fans expect from their new prospect? The big factor will be whether or not Perales can successfully answer the largest question to his current prospect profile: can he make it as a starter in the big leagues?
As of right now, Perales has significant reliever risk long-term due to his slight frame, but his pure stuff is absolutely incredible, and at the very worse makes it extremely likely that he could be an elite closer. Standing at just 6'1" and 160 pounds, Perales is not the most physically imposing pitcher on the planet, but he does have an intriguing pitch mix.
The 22-year-old from Venezuela features a 70-grade fastball that has touched triple digits, a 50-grade slider, 55-grade cutter, and 55-grade splitter in his arsenal. The 4-pitch mix makes it more likely that he can make it work as a starter, but his 40-grade control is currently limiting his potential ceiling as it stands right now.
However, if Perales can put on a bit of weight to help lessen the load on his right arm, which has already undergone Tommy John Surgery, then perhaps he will be able to become an elite starting pitcher, which is what the Nationals are hoping for after acquiring him. He has since bounced back and had a great tenure in the Arizona Fall League this year, likely giving Toboni the confidence that he will be able to continue on his journey to realize his potential.
Slotting in as the new #5 prospect in the organization according to MLB.com, the upside on Perales is worth taking a gamble on, especially considering the Nationals only had to swap Bennett straight up for him.
While Bennett is likely closer to making the big leagues, he has had injury troubles of his own which has limited his velocity and potential ceiling as a big-league starter, likely capping his ceiling as a back end of the rotation starter without tremendous strikeout stuff. However, since both prospects are basically at the same level of their development, time will tell which team got the better end of this rare prospect for prospect swap.
What do you think about the Luis Perales addition? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.