Freddy Peralta Starts World Series Game 3 Against the Brewers: What Facing His Old Team Means
Freddy Peralta will start World Series Game 3 for the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night at Tropicana Field, against the organization that turned him into a major league pitcher. Both he and Brewers starter Robert Gasser took the podium at Saturday’s pregame press conferences in Milwaukee, and MLB’s own schedule now lists them as the Game 3 probables.
Peralta spent eight seasons pitching for Milwaukee. He has never thrown a pitch in a World Series. The first one he throws will be against them.
Milwaukee Traded Him in January and Tried to Get Him Back in July
The Brewers sent Peralta and Tobias Myers to the New York Mets on Jan. 21 for pitcher Brandon Sproat and outfielder Jett Williams. He was heading into the final option year of the five-year, $15.5 million extension he signed in 2020.
It did not go well in Queens. Peralta posted a 3.10 ERA over his first nine Mets starts, then went 2-6 with a 6.44 ERA over his last 13. The Mets dealt him to Tampa Bay on Aug. 2, the eve of the trade deadline, for outfielder Aidan Smith, pitcher Gary Gill Hill and infielder Emilien Pitre.
In between, Milwaukee reportedly looked into bringing him back. Peralta told USA TODAY’s Gabe Lacques about those reports: “I saw that and was surprised and happy, because this was a special place for me.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy had been asked in July whether he would push his front office to reacquire Peralta. “That’s not my job,” he said. “My job isn’t to push anybody. Anybody in baseball would want Freddy Peralta in their clubhouse. He’s that impactful a guy.”
He Has Been a Different Pitcher Since Late August
Peralta’s combined 2026 regular season looks ordinary: 10-11 with a 4.42 ERA over 169 innings. Split by team, it is two different pitchers. With the Mets he went 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA, a career worst. With Tampa Bay he went 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP.
Per Lacques, Peralta is 7-0 with a 0.89 ERA since Aug. 26 including the playoffs. This postseason he is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA across four appearances and 16 2/3 innings.
He was named ALCS MVP against Cleveland after going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in 12 innings over three appearances. The Rays won all three games he pitched in, including the Game 6 clincher, where he went 5 1/3 and allowed one run. He threw 33 pitches at 97 mph or harder in that game, a career high.
Gasser Is the Quiet Half of This Matchup
Gasser, 27, came to Milwaukee in the 2022 trade that sent Josh Hader to San Diego. He went 5-5 with a 3.87 ERA over 20 starts this season after beginning the year in Triple-A, and he missed most of 2024 and 2025 recovering from UCL surgery.
His postseason has been excellent and almost invisible: two starts, nine innings, one earned run, a 1.00 ERA and no decision. He threw five scoreless innings against the Dodgers in the NLCS.
What Monday Actually Decides
The Brewers won Game 1 on Friday 3-2, with Jacob Misiorowski opening the game with a 103.5 mph fastball, the fastest pitch in World Series history in the tracking era. Game 2 was underway in Milwaukee on Saturday night.
Whatever the series looks like when it lands in St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay is handing the ball to the hottest pitcher in the matchup, and Milwaukee has to beat a guy it could have kept. Peralta has been generous about his old club. “Milwaukee is going to be always in my heart,” he said after winning ALCS MVP, before adding the part that matters Monday: “But it’s time now to compete.”
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
