Washington Nationals call up fire-baller Luis Perales to make MLB debut

For a lot of the season, Perales has struggled to turn his electric stuff into whiffs. That has been changing the last couple of months though. In his last 37.1 innings since July 1st, Perales has 49 strikeouts. Command has still been a question mark for the 23 year old righty, but that swing and miss stuff is a big reason for his promotion.

The biggest key to unlocking more whiffs has been his splitter. Since July, Perales has been using that pitch a lot more and it has devastated hitters. For the season, hitters are whiffing 46.4% of the time against the offering. That pitch alone seems like enough for him to carve out a role as a high leverage arm, especially when combined with a fastball that regularly touches 100.

Perales' command remains a work in progress. Even during this successful run lately, he has been walking a lot of batters. However, with his stuff, he does not need to be pinpoint. Perales can use his fastball, splitter and cutter to have a lot of success.