PORT ST. LUCIE — Freddy Peralta was a ball of energy in the Mets clubhouse before facing the Yankees on Sunday.
Whereas most pitchers prefer solitude on their scheduled day to pitch, even in spring training, Peralta was engaged in a basketball game, shouting as he attempted off-balance shots and laughing most of the way.
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Try it free“I just be myself every day,” Peralta said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m pitching or not pitching, that is what I do.”
On this day he faced a skeleton Yankees lineup at Clover Park.
After a rough first inning — with a misplay and weak contact contributing factors — Peralta rebounded into form over the next two to provide the home crowd with a glimpse of the ace who will head to the mound for Opening Day in 2 ½ weeks.
Peralta struck out four over three innings, allowing three hits and one walk with two earned runs in the 10-4 victory.
An adjustment helped. After relying on his fastball early, Peralta turned to his changeup in the second inning and curveball in the third. The Yankees were tamed.
“After the first inning, me and Alvy had a conversation and we thought that was the right way to do it,” Peralta said, referring to Francisco Alvarez. “We saw that they were swinging a little like they were trying to hunt the fastball earlier and we tried to miss it a little bit more. I told [Alvarez] and asked him and he said, ‘Yes,’ and it worked.”
It was the first time Alvarez handled Peralta (who was starting his second exhibition game this spring) in the Grapefruit League.
What has Alvarez learned about Peralta?
“He commands his fastball, he commands the curveball and he’s got a great changeup, too,” Alvarez said. “For him it’s more about command. Every pitch is nasty, so he has just got to command the pitch and that’s it.”
Peralta was asked about his chemistry with Alvarez.
“I had conversations with him even before we got here to spring training,” Peralta said. “And back then I knew that he was going to be very good because he’s very interested and makes you do well for ourselves, for the team, for everything. He showed me that he wants to win, he cared about it, he cared about performance and that is No. 1 for catching.”
Already together in camp with Peralta for over a month, Alvarez has come to appreciate the energy the pitcher has brought to the clubhouse.
“He’s a great teammate,” Alvarez said. “He’s always happy. He brings a lot of energy and he’s going to be big for us.”
The two will work together (provided they remain healthy) more often than not this season. This day against the Yankees represented a nice beginning for the duo.
“It’s in a good place,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, referring to the chemistry between Peralta and Alvarez. “This goes back to the very first few days of camp when he was throwing bullpens and Alvy was catching him and just kind of get to know some of the targets that he likes, some of the things he likes to do with the baseball as far as the changeup, the breaking ball, the fastball, against lefties and righties.
“Now, the way they are talking about the game between innings it’s just in a good spot. Alvy is asking good questions and Peralta is giving him really good feedback.”
Peralta likely has another two starts remaining in the Grapefruit League before getting the ball against the Pirates on March 26 at Citi Field. The next step will be buildup to four and five innings.
And there could be additional pregame basketball games.
“We’re always betting a coffee or something,” Peralta said. “So, somebody has to bring me a coffee.”
