There has been some speculation about what the Washington Nationals are going to do with some of their top prospects who are knocking on the door of the majors, and now one of the biggest dominoes is set to fall.
Kyle Williams of The Baltimore Banner reported that the Nationals are set to promote right-handed pitcher Luis Perales for his MLB debut. He'll begin his MLB career coming out of the bullpen, which was anticipated based on him getting work as a reliever recently with Triple-A Rochester.
The move is expected to made official before Wednesday's game against the Colorado Rockies , where right-handed pitcher Matt Waldron -- who was claimed off waivers on Aug. 22 -- is scheduled to open as the starter.
Washington Nationals pitcher Luis Perales | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
This promotion is a notable one for three reasons.
The first is that Perales is a talented pitching prospect with big-time stuff that this Washington staff just currently doesn't have, as his arsenal consistently grades out above league average in terms of Stuff+ metrics. Ranked No. 12 in the Nationals' farm system, the 23-year-old has the ceiling to be a frontline starter at some point in his career based on the tools he possesses. While he is going to begin his big league career coming out of the bullpen, the hope is that this experience will create a smoother transition for when his workload increases heading into 2027.
The second reason this is a headlining move is the fact that the acquisition of Perales this past offseason was one of the first made by president of baseball operations Paul Toboni after he was hired. It took sending fellow top prospect Jake Bennett to the Boston Red Sox to get this done, and that naturally caused both fanbases to compare and contrast the deal throughout the year.
When Bennett started out strong -- 2.64 ERA across eight starts before the All-Star break -- and Perales was still pitching in the minors, there were a lot of people who questioned if Toboni made the right decision, especially because of how poor Washington's pitching staff had performed. However, Bennett has cooled off over the course of the season with his second half ERA sitting at 4.50 across seven starts. So the high-ceiling Perales has a chance to show what he can do against major league competition to tilt the scales back in the favor of the Nationals .
Finally, the fact that Perales has gotten himself to this point after missing the majority of the 2024 and 2025 seasons due to Tommy John surgery is a positive sign for what others within the organization can accomplish when they return from those respective procedures.
How much Perales is used to finish the season will be interesting to see. As a reliever with Rochester during his last three appearances, he's only pitched two innings across each outing. That's likely how he'll be utilized to start his MLB career, too.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/nationals/onsi as Nationals Fans Finally Get to See Luis Perales as Team Reportedly Is Set to Call Him Up .
