Anthony Rizzo put into words the kind of frustration Mets fans know all too well after watching Freddy Peralta take off after leaving New York.
Peralta’s season with the Mets never came close to matching the pitcher they thought they were getting in last offseason’s deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. He had been one of baseball’s most reliable starters before arriving in New York, earning two All-Star selections and finishing in the top five in Cy Young voting in 2025. But in 2026, Peralta stumbled to a 4.99 ERA, his worst mark since 2019.
Then came the turnaround. After being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the deadline, Peralta settled back into the form that made him such a sought-after arm in the first place. He posted a 3.25 ERA with Tampa Bay, and in the postseason he has been even sharper, starting two games and delivering a 0.84 ERA.
Rizzo, the former Chicago Cubs star and current New York Yankees first baseman, didn’t hold back when talking about how that kind of swing hits from the outside.
“It's crazy, right? How mad are you as a Mets fan to see the guy that you guys traded for from Milwaukee, right, and this isn't a stray to the Mets organization, sometimes guys just don't adapt right away,” Rizzo said, H/T Yahoo.
“And then he goes to Tampa and just starts shoving. They unlock his changeup or his split more. He starts throwing that more.
“Goes out, what his last seven starts he's had under a one ERA? That's not easy.”
For Mets fans, that’s the painful part: seeing a pitcher who struggled in Queens immediately look like himself again somewhere else. Peralta went 5-9 with the Mets, and while win-loss records don’t tell the whole story for a starter, the numbers still underline how rough the fit was.
If he had managed to win 10 games, he wouldn’t have been moved at the deadline, and the Mets likely could have made the playoffs. Instead, he became another reminder of how often New York has watched talent arrive and then fail to click.
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