With Wikelman Gonzalez making the jump to Double-A Portland, the Red Sox are promoting fellow pitching prospect Luis Perales from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, according to Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster.
Perales, 20, posted a 3.21 ERA and 3.12 FIP with 71 strikeouts to 28 walks in 13 starts spanning 53 1/3 innings of work for Salem this season. The right-hander ended the first half on a strong note, firing five scoreless frames for the second outing in a row as part of an 11-0 win over the Lynchburg Hillcats on Saturday.
Among 47 Carolina League pitchers who came into play Sunday with at least 50 innings under their belt to this point in the season, Perales ranked 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (11.98), 11th in strikeout rate (31.4 percent), ninth in batting average against (.193), first in swinging-strike rate (17.1 percent), 15th in ERA, seventh in FIP, and 15th in xFIP (3.57), per FanGraphs.
Like Gonzalez, Perales also hails from Venezuela. The Guacara native originally signed with the Red Sox for $75,000 as an international free agent in July 2019. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 10 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks third among pitchers in the organization behind only left-handers Shane Drohan and Brandon Walter and directly ahead of Gonzalez.
Standing at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, Perales throws from a high three-quarters arm slot. According to his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the righty utilizes a three-pitch mix that is headlined by a 94-97 mph fastball that tops out at 99 mph and complemented by a power slider that sits in the mid-80s as well as a developing changeup that hovers in the upper-80s.
Coming out of the All-Star break later this week, Perales figures to join a starting rotation in Greenville that includes fellow righties Angel Bastardo, Juan Daniel Encarnacion, and Bradley Blalock as well as left-hander Dalton Rogers.
As is the case with Gonzalez, Perales — who does not turn 21 next April — can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter if the Red Sox do not add him to their 40-man roster by the protection deadline in November.
(Picture of Luis Perales: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
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