Exhaustion seems to be setting in for some Boston Red Sox pitchers, but they still need a few wins to guarantee themselves a Wild Card spot. Luckily, Boston may get a few pitchers back from the injured list in the coming days, and it may have even more backup ready, if needed.
Before the Red Sox's September 23 game against the Toronto Blue Jays, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn't rule out potentially summoning former top pitching prospect Luis Perales to bolster the pitching staff some time in the coming week. Perales was a top Red Sox prospect last season, and even a top 100 prospect in baseball according to some publications, before he underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2024.
“We’ll balance his recovery from Tommy John with the possibility that he can help us,” Breslow said (via Christopher Smith of MassLive). “He’s a really, really exciting young arm and before he got hurt, I think we saw a little bit of that upside with a fastball that’s (hitting) triple-digits and a dominant cutter and split.”
Perales has posted an impressive rebound from Tommy John surgery so far. The 22-year-old righty clocked triple-digits on his fastball, as Breslow mentioned, and he made rehab appearances in two levels of the minor leagues.
Craig Breslow doesn't rule out Red Sox using top pitching prospect Luis Perales in final week of season
Luis Perales strikes out the side in his Triple-A Worcester debut. Here’s the final punchout.
— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) September 17, 2025
The 22-year-old righty threw 9 cutters and 2 sliders, according to MiLB Gameday, and the plan coming in was for him to stay away from his fastball.
Not a bad first AAA impression. pic.twitter.com/PSu8YwfyXF
Perales started his brief rehab stint in Double-A, then moved to Triple-A for his level debut because it was the only minor league season still going on at the time. Perales posted a scoreless inning with a walk in Double-A. He followed that up on September 17 with a scoreless, one-inning appearance for the WooSox, during which he fanned three batters. His second Triple-A outing didn't go as well, and he let up two runs on two walks and no hits in a third of an inning on September 20.
The WooSox didn't make the playoffs this season, so Perales will not have any other chances to appear in the minor leagues until 2026. He'll spend the rest of the Red Sox's season in Fort Myers staying ready just in case he's summoned for his major league debut. Kristian Campbell, Jhostynxon Garcia, Cooper Criswell, Isaiah Campbell, Jovani Morán and Luis Guerrero are also there.
Perales' surgery and long recovery time have hurt him in the Red Sox's top prospect rankings — he's now ranked below Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Brandon Clarke and 2025 first round draft picmk Kyson Witherspoon — but if he can get back to his old self next season, he's sure to turn heads nationally. Perales posted a 2.94 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 12 walks over 33.2 innings between High-A and Double-A last season.
Using Perales, who is fresh off UCL surgery and has never pitched consequential innings in Triple-A, down the stretch could be a huge risk for Boston. He has dangerous stuff, though, and if the Red Sox's bullpen gets any thinner, they may not have any better options.