MLB analyst calls $15.5M Brewers ace the "hidden secret" in NL Central division

The Brewers have surprised everyone in the baseball sphere by surging to the top of the MLB standings in the latter half of the season. Milwaukee is currently head and shoulders above everyone with a 79-45 record, one that absolutely no one, not even their fans, saw coming ahead of this campaign.

A huge key to the team's success is its pitching. The squad holds the second-best ERA in the majors at 3.56 and is tied for the second-best batting average against at .229. Central to this surprising surge is ace Freddy Peralta. The $15.5 million worth hurler recently notched his second All-Star selection after a brilliant first half of the season. In an interview with MLB Network Radio, analyst Eduardo Perez lauded Peralta's efforts as the anchor of the Brewers' rotation.

"Peralta to me is one of the 'hidden secrets' of the [NL] Central," said Perez. (0:44-0:47)

The analyst further specified that it was Peralta's health and consistency on the mound that has led to him to be the winningest pitcher in the league so far with 15 victories.

"He goes in with a sweeper and a fastball. He is deceptive [and] throws across his body pretty well. You can tell that he's 100% healthy. This is a guy that was able to see Corbin Burnes make himself into a pitcher. [He's] not a big guy on the mound either, but he does pitch like a big guy. He gets a lot of chases out of the zone and gets a lot of soft contact." (0:22-0:28)

Largely been obscure since his breakout 2021 campaign, Peralta has been a revelation this year as he has already tallied a 2.78 ERA with 154 strikeouts while leading the league in both wins and games started.

Brewers shutout Cubs in series opener

After the Cubs held the lead in the NL Central for a majority of the season, the Brewers surged out of nowhere and nabbed the top spot in the second half of the campaign. On Monday's game against the Northsiders, Milwaukee clapped the hosts on the road with a 7-0 win in the series-opener of a five-game series between the two sides.

Freddy Peralta was at his brilliant best as he pitched six innings of one-hit ball with three walks an six punch outs. Along with the run support by the batting order, the visitors trounced their biggest opponent in the divisional race. The dominant performance gave Peralta his MLB-leading 15th win of the year while the Brewers improve their record and are just one win away from being the first team this year to reach 80 regular season victories.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

Know More

Edited by Daniel Santiago