Freddy Peralta, aka Fastball Freddy as many fans call him, had a fantastic 2021 season including his first ever All-Star appearance. While he was incredible in 2021, it may be hard to reach similar numbers and production that he put on in 2021. I will give my predictions for his performance throughout the 2022 season barring any potential injuries. I will use three statistics to test his measured performance throughout next season including ERA, Earned Runs Average, Strikeouts, and Home Runs Allowed.  

• While I still expect great performances, I do expect him not to play as well as he did last season. Freddy had a 2.81 ERA, Earned Runs Average, which was tied for sixth in all of Major League Baseball. Throughout his four year career he possesses a 3.87 ERA. I project him to be similar to the player he was last year maintaining a 3.25 ERA. The reason why I expect his performance to lower is due to the changing of the game as his primary pitch, his fastball, to be more easily read by hitters since he has thrown enough innings for hitters to scout his pitches. When a pitcher doesn’t diversify his pitches, they can be easily read by hitters.

• Freddy Peralta has proven he deserves his respect throughout all of Major League Baseball with his incredible high rising fastball that tricks hitters of all shapes and sizes. He gained the nickname “Fastball Freddy” with the high usage of his fastball pitch. With the increase in velocity and the spinning of the seams, it creates a very dangerous pitch for opposing hitters. Based on last year, Freddy Peralta averaged roughly five innings per starting appearance. Assuming he pitches every game barring any injury, he would pitch in 32 different starting appearances. With the current rate of 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings throughout his career, he is on pace for roughly 215 strikeouts this upcoming season which would break his past career high in 2021. This number will be hard to attain as it’s unlikely that he stays healthy throughout the season as if he has even the slightest discomfort, staff and coaches will let him rest for an appearance to make sure it’s not more serious.

• Something that hurt Freddy Peralta early in his career was his inability to stop the home run ball. Since he throws fastballs more often than not, it creates a door for power hitters to crank the high velocity pitch out of the ballpark. Throughout his career he has averaged 1.0 home runs per nine innings which is considered high and can lose ball games in close scenarios. Freddy has given up 39 home runs throughout his first four seasons which is equivalent to roughly ten home runs per season. I expect him to give up around 17 home runs due to the increase in innings pitched and due to the fact that it’s hard to not give up home runs when fastballs are thrown often. While giving up 17 home runs in a season is not an insanely high amount, it puts Freddy in a middle tier in terms of giving up home runs and could be costly for the Brewers.

     Freddy Peralta is an All-Star caliber talent and could very much play beyond expectations for this upcoming 2022 season. As stated earlier, I predict Freddy to possess a 3.25 ERA, Earned Runs Average, with 215 strikeouts while giving up 17 total home runs throughout the season. Freddy Peralta signed a contract that has him playing in Milwaukee for four more seasons, which will hopefully result in more winning success and bring the Brewers back into the MLB playoffs. I hope for Freddy to have an even better season than his 2021 season which could result in another All-Star appearance.