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By The Washington Nationals acquired right-handed pitcher Luis Perales from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for left-handed pitcher Jake Bennett on Monday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni made the announcement.
Perales, 22, is the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s system, according to Baseball America, and its No. 7 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. Perales went from unranked to the No. 57 prospect in baseball in 2024 – according to Baseball America – before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of that season. He was cited by Baseball America as having the “best fastball” in Boston’s Minor League system prior to both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Perales returned to the mound in 2025, appearing in three games (2.1 IP) between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worchester.
Perales (per-AHL-iss) paced Boston’s system and ranked 15th in all of Minor League Baseball (min. 30.0 IP) with 14.97 strikeouts per 9.0 innings in 2024. He went 2-2 with a 2.94 ERA (11 ER/33.2 IP) and 56 strikeouts in nine games (nine starts) in 2024 prior to the injury. Perales pitched to a 1.88 ERA (6 ER/28.2 IP) with 49 strikeouts and just 10 walks in in his final seven starts after allowing five earned runs in 5.0 innings across his first two starts of the season.
Through five professional seasons (2021-25), Perales has posted 12.56 strikeouts per 9.0 innings and 0.7 home runs per 9.0 innings. He’s surrendered just 12 home runs in 163.1 innings pitched. He is 6-11 with a 3.31 ERA, 228 strikeouts and a .217 opponents’ batting average in 47 professional games (43 starts). A native of Guacara, Venezuela, Perales signed with Boston as an international free agent on July 2, 2019.
