The 2026 Boston Red Sox's rotation wouldn't be what it is without a rare, prospect-for-prospect trade that Craig Breslow made over the offseason. He sent former top Red Sox pitching prospect Luis Perales to the Washigton Nationals in exchange for Jake Bennett, who has been a critical piece of Boston's rotation all season, particularly during its 30-5 winning streak.
Now, Perales will get a chance to show what he's made of in the big leagues. The Nationals have called him up ahead of their August 26 game against the Colorado Rockies, according to Kyle Williams of the Baltimore Banner.
The Red Sox signed Perales in 2019 as an international free agent out of Venezuela. He debuted for the Sox in 2021 because the 2020 season was lost due to the pandemic and he ascended a level every year, working up to Triple-A by 2025.
Perales' last full season in the Red Sox organization came in 2023, when he posted a 3.91 ERA over 89.2 innings between Single-A and High-A. He pitched to a 2.94 ERA over half the 2024 season before his UCL tore, which forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery.
Former Red Sox prospect Luis Perales promoted to Nationals bullpen for MLB debut
luis perales' last three outings:
— Nationals Player Development (@Nats_PlayerDev) August 24, 2026
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 SO pic.twitter.com/Mama58P8Gr
Perales has recovered well and he's clocked a 3.64 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 97 strikeouts and 55 walks over 96.1 innings with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.
The 23-year-old righty came up through Boston's system as a starting pitcher and spent most of his first year with the Nats in the rotation. He transitioned to a relief role over his last three outings. Each of them were two innings, he allowed two hits in his first relief appearance and none in the others, and he struck out 12 batters across all three outings.
According to Nats reporter Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic, some people in the Nationals organization still view Perales as a future starter (subscription required). He's been called up in a relief capacity, and he has the stuff and velocity to be one of the better relievers on the team, if not in the league someday.
Every club could use some fresh bullpen depth down the stretch, but it'd be hard to argue that the Perales-Bennett trade hasn't been worth it for Boston so far. Bennett has posted a 3.49 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 67 strikeouts and 18 walks over 87.2 frames. He's shown some signs of tiredness as the regular season nears its end (4.50 ERA in his last seven starts), but overall Bennett has been an incredible addition to the Sox's rotation. Even so, Red Sox fans will be checking in on the Nationals to see how one of their fan-favorite former top pitching prospects fares in the big leagues.
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