Wily Peralta’s transition from starter to reliever to the back end of the bullpen no longer falls into the category of an experiment. The Royals gave it a whirl last season in hopes to find another pitcher in their line of starters who could be turned into an impact reliever.
After his first season exclusively pitching out of the bullpen last year, Peralta appears to have embraced the move in every way. He moved into the closer role and converted 14 of 14 save opportunities from July 21 through the end of the season.
Peralta, who won 17 games as a starter with Milwaukee in 2014, arrived in Arizona and vowed to hit the ground running this spring training.