Cardinals claim brother of a former foe who could help stabilize shaky bullpen

All season long, the St. Louis Cardinals have seen their bullpen become a source of frustration that has cost them a number of games. It's no surprise to see them go out and bring in a new arm to the mix, having just claimed left-handed reliever Luis Peralta off of waivers from the Colorado Rockies.

Peralta still had two options remaining, and since the Cardinals had a 40-man roster spot open, this allowed them to claim him and keep him in Memphis while they try to fix his issues on the mound.

Peralta, who was acquired by the Rockies from the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2024, is the younger brother of Freddy Peralta, who was a frontline starter for the Milwaukee Brewers for the last number of years before he was traded to the New York Mets this offseason. And oh man, Peralta showed so much intrigue that season.

Luis Peralta has incredible strikeout stuff if the Cardinals can fix his walk issues

Between both the Pirates and Rockies minor league affiliates, Peralta posted a 0.94 ERA while striking out 40.1% of the batters he faced, and when he made his MLB debut, he lowered that ERA to 0.73 over the course of 12.1 innings of work.

Needless to say, things have unraveled since then, posting an ERA above 9.00 in both 2025 and 2026, and while the strikeout stuff has remained, his walk rate is now out of control. Peralta allowed 8.53 BB/9 at the Major League level in 2025 and saw that skyrocket to 15.95 BB/9 in Triple-A this season.

Peralta's primary offering is a mid-90s fastball that generates a ton of swing and miss, but when it gets hit, it gets hit hard. His curveball also generates a good amount of whiffs, and while he allows more contact with it, opposing hitters have not done as much damage. He occasionally mixes in a change-up as well.

It will be fascinating to see how Matt Pierpont, the Cardinals' director of pitching, and the rest of the Cardinals' player development group try to get Peralta back on track. Earlier this spring, the Cardinals traded for reliever George Soriano with a clear plan of how to maximize him on the mound, and so far, he's been a much better pitcher for St. Louis. The club added a gyro slider to his arsenal, and adding that pitch not only helped him be more productive against left-handed hitters, but it also helped the effectiveness of his other pitches as well.

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