Royals reliever Wily Peralta not doing himself any favors by falling behind
In his last seven appearances, Royals relief pitcher Wily Peralta has allowed six runs, five walks and 10 hits and posted a WHIP of 2.14 during that stretch.
Even though he closed out games late last season — he converted 14 of 14 save opportunities in 2018 — he also had a tendency to work around runners on base. Last September, he converted six save opportunities and his WHIP was 1.89 with opponents batting .286 against him.
So what’s the difference between the end results then and the results now?
“Throwing strikes,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “That’s all it is. If he’s throwing strikes, he’s going to be all right. If he’s behind in the count, he’ll have to battle.”
Peralta identified the same issue when talking about his recent ups and downs. Peralta said he’s not making any mechanical changes. It’s as simple as him pitching off the plate and missing early in counts and falling behind hitters.
“Pretty much all the hits and runs that I’ve given up, I fell behind in the count and just worked trying to get back to even,” Peralta said. “But I’ve already thrown five or six pitches to hitters, so it’s not good. I feel like I just have to go out there and get ahead right away.
“It’s going to make it easier for me to put (batters) away if I work ahead. As big-league hitters, they’re really good. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw or what kind of pitches you throw. You have to be so perfect if you fall behind.”
He’s allowed runs in three of his past four appearances, but he insists that he’s fine physically and feels better with each outing.
His biggest adjustment might be just getting to strike one as quickly as possible.
“Right now it’s one of those stretches where everything goes against you,” Peralta said. “You miss one pitch, you pay for it. I think when things are going, sometimes you make a mistake and they miss it. Those little stretches, I think everybody goes through.”
Back to third: Hunter Dozier will start at third base for the first time since April 20 in Yankee Stadium. He’d been dealing with back tightness that escalated to back spasms during a game in Tampa Bay. He had two games off in Tampa and he’d been serving as designated hitter and played three games at first base since coming back from the spasms.
Dozier said he’d resumed his early work at third base, which the training staff had restricted him from doing while playing through the back tightness, and he’s felt good of late.
“I’m ready to get back out there, I’m tired of DH,” Dozier said. “I love playing defense. I take pride in it, so it’s going to be fun to get back out there.”
Let the bidding begin: Royals Charities and FOX Sports Kansas City will hold their 10th annual Broadcast Auction during Friday night’s television broadcast of the Royals-Philadelphia Phillies series opener at Kauffman Stadium.
The Broadcast Auction starts during the Royals Live, pregame show (6:30 p.m.) and continues until the final out of that night’s game. The items up for auction include dinner with National Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett, a CrownVision video game party and road trip to Washington, D.C., to see the Royals play the Nationals. For more information visit royals.com/broadcastauction.
Tuesday’s lineup
1. Whit Merrifield, 2b
2. Adalberto Mondesi, ss
3. Alex Gordon, lf
4. Hunter Dozier, 3b
5. Jorge Soler, dh
6. Ryan O’Hearn, 1b
7. Chris Owings, rf
8. Martin Maldonado, c
9. Billy Hamilton, cf
Starting pitcher: Danny Duffy (lh, 0-1, 3.27)
This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 5:54 PM.
