Nationals' Wily Peralta: Getting stretched out as starter

Peralta will be stretched out for a potential starting role in spring training, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

The veteran right-hander mostly worked as a reliever last season with Detroit but had some success in the rotation in 2021 and posted a 3.07 ERA over 93.2 innings, although that masked a 4.93 FIP and woefully low 14.4 percent strikeout rate. Peralta is in camp as a non-roster invitee, but he would seem to have a good chance of making the Opening Day roster. "I know Willie had some success in the bullpen role as a long guy," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Wednesday. "But we are looking for him to come here and lengthen him out to start." Washington is hoping youngsters like Cade Cavalli (shoulder) and MacKenzie Gore can handle regular starting roles, but if they prove not to be ready, there could be opportunities for the likes of Peralta to take on bigger workloads in 2023 than expected.