Mariners claim LHP Sammy Peralta off waivers from White Sox

Mariners acquire lefty arm for Seattle’s suddenly lefty-light organization

The Mariners announced today that they have claimed LHP Sammy Peralta off waivers from the White Sox and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma. That move helps shore up a relatively thin area in the organization; prior to the move, the only lefties Tacoma had were Jhonathan Diaz, who’s been working as a starter, and Kirby Snead.

Peralta, 25, was a 2019 18th-rounder out of a mix of Florida community college and Division II schools, although he originally hails from Queens. He dominated the lower minors for the White Sox organization before running into a bit of a walk problem in the upper minors in 2022. Peralta enjoyed a successful stint in the AFL in 2022 with the Glendale Desert Dogs before returning to Triple-A in 2023, where his strikeout rate fell off but he was able to command the zone better. He was rewarded with a promotion to the big leagues and pitched 20 innings for the White Sox last year, with an ERA of just over 4 but an xERA of just over 5, suggesting he got somewhat lucky in that brief sample.

Peralta’s arsenal is led by his changeup. It’s not a whiff-getter but it induces weak contact and tons of ground balls; his big-league sample doesn’t particularly show it, but it was a devastating pitch for him in the minors.

He also throws a four-seamer that’s also designed to get weak contact over whiffs, although when he can spot it at the top of the zone it can elicit some empty swings. However, when it leaks onto the plate, trouble ahead: hitters slugged .576 on the pitch in his limited big-league sample. His primary whiff-getting weapon is a sweeping slider that he can really run in on righties for weak contact and ugly swings.

Just for fun, here’s current Mariner Jorge Polanco sneaking one of Peralta’s changeups through the infield for a two-run single:

Peralta, who will pitch in his age-26 season, still has MiLB options remaining, but the White Sox needed to clear 40-man space for Dominic Leone, Bryan Shaw, and Jordan Leasure, making Peralta a casualty of a roster crunch and gifting the Mariners what looks like a potentially pretty nifty piece for a bullpen that could use some of those.