Freddy Peralta will take the ball in Game 1 of the Milwaukee Brewers’ best-of-three Wild Card series against the New York Mets on Tuesday having already accomplished plenty in his seventh Major League Baseball season.
On Sept. 16, Peralta was presented with the Brewers’ nomination for the Roberto Clemente Award. Each team nominates one player for the award, which recognizes community service and philanthropy. The league-wide winner of the award will be announced at the 2024 World Series.
“Just being nominated for this award is already a win,” Peralta said in an interview with Newsweek Sports. “It’s something I want to keep doing. It’s something I grew up with, trying to help people around me. It doesn’t matter the situation, the way I have to take to do it. It’s something I want to keep doing for many years, hopefully here in Milwaukee.”
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The latter part should come as music to the ears of Brewers fans. They’ve seen Peralta go from a (mostly) reliever with a 5.29 ERA in 2019 to a Game 1 postseason starter in the span of five years. Milwaukee holds a $5.5 million team option on Peralta’s contract for 2025.
That’s a relative bargain. Peralta’s Mets counterpart, Luis Severino (11-7, 3.91) will make $15 million this season, including performance bonuses.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 25: Freddy Peralta #51 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts after striking out Bryan Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Pirates for his 200th of the season in the sixth inning at PNC Park on September 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Peralta candidly revealed the inspiration behind his success.
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Peralta doesn’t walk the walk of a star. He’s managed to stay humble, involving himself in Milwaukee’s Spanish-speaking community via the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). At LULAC’s recent graduation ceremony for young adults provided scholarships through LULAC at Milwaukee Area Technical College, Peralta was handing out certificates to the new graduates.
“I’m just trying to help people who want to do something with their lives,” Peralta said.
The 28-year-old native of Moca, Dominican Republic credited his mother, Octavia Diaz, and his father, Pedro Peralta (whose nickname, “Freddy,” inspired his own name), as inspiration for the work that led to the Clemente Award nomination.
“It was a little hard growing up,” he said. “My dad and my mom. My mom, she was at home with us. I have two brothers younger than me, but my dad he was working all the time the whole day. I grew up watching him … trying to put us in a good situation. … If he didn’t take those risks back then to give us the best, probably i wouldn’t be talking to you right now. I can say thanks now to them and I think that I am the person I am today because of them.”
Peralta led the Brewers’ pitching staff in innings (173.2), strikeouts (200), and starts (32), making him a natural choice for Game 1. The winner of the Brewers-Mets series will play the Philadelphia Phillies in the best-of-five NL Division Series beginning Saturday.
