Mets fans, close your eyes.
Freddy Peralta was named American League Championship Series MVP after the Rays booked their trip to the World Series on Monday with a 7-3 Game 6 win over the Guardians at Tropicana Field.
The ex-Mets pitcher allowed just one run in 12 innings pitched through three outings in the ALCS.
The right-hander pitched 5 ⅓ innings on Monday night in the series-clinching win and exited to a standing ovation from Rays fans
It’s a stark contrast from where things had been for Peralta in July after posting a 4.99 ERA with the Mets in 22 starts. He was dealt at the trade deadline to Tampa Bay for three prospects and his initial debut with his new club did not go as planned — giving up seven runs on nine hits against the Rockies — but things quickly turned around for him with his new club.
When asked by Lauren Shehadi what he would have said in July if he was told he’d be ALCS MVP, Peralta responded that he’d say, “You’re crazy.”
“This is crazy and I am very happy to be here, to be part of this great group and this great organization,” Peralta said. “This is not only mine. We all earned this. This is for the boys.”
Through the Rays’ playoff run, Peralta has posted a 1.08 ERA and allowed just two earned runs.
Speaking about the difference since joining the Rays compared to his previous situation with the Mets, Peralta credited the coaching staff.
“First thing was praying every day, as always, praying to God and asking to keep me humble, keep me on my feet, because you don’t know what can happen when you are going through moments like that,” he explained about the rough times and being traded. “I think when I got traded and when I got here, everything changed.”
He called the coaches’ help “something that I never want to forget in life” and said he’s “very grateful to have people like that here and people that I never saw before, and now they are part of my family.”
Peralta, who came to the Mets in an offseason trade with Milwaukee to be their ace, finished 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts in a disappointing year for the Amazin’s
The Rays will face his old team, the Brewers, in the World Series, which will begin on Friday in Milwaukee.
