Pirates Non-Roster Invitees who could make the Opening Day bullpen

2. RHP Wily Peralta

Alongside Stratton, veteran righty Wily Peralta is the second most likely option to make the Opening Day roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates (in my opinion). At 35-years-old, Peralta has been a seasoned veteran in Major League Baseball, and some fans may remember that he was a reliable arm for the Milwaukee Brewers early in his career. Peralta’s last stint in the Majors was with the Detroit Tigers in 2022, where he posted a 2.58 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 32 strikeouts, and a 1.51 WHIP across 38.1 innings and 1 game started. Peralta struggled with control, walking 14.3% of batters faced, but he was solid at limiting home runs, only allowing 2 all season.

Peralta recently had a minor league stint in 2023 with the Washington Nationals, but his numbers were far from stellar. So far with the Pirates this Spring, Peralta has posted a 0.00 ERA, struck out 1 batter, and only walked 1 across 3 innings of work. Even in an extremely small sample size, Peralta has limited hard contact and has showcased a solid changeup/splitter combination, which is arguably his best pitch.

But why should Peralta make the Opening Day roster?

Wily Peralta is a reliable veteran arm that will eat innings for the Pirates and has the versatility to move between the bullpen and the starting rotation. The Pirates have flirted with the idea of using openers over the last few seasons, and maybe Peralta could partake in a long relief/opener role to give some of our starters a rest. Veteran leadership is extremely important and as the old saying goes “you can never have enough pitching depth”. All that the Pirates need at this point is someone to eat innings, and Peralta could slot in and find a way to help this team win games.