The Los Angeles Angels required the services of Elvis Peguero for just a number of appearances in 2022, but in his age-25 season, he saw his most time in Minor League Baseball.
Peguero was signed to the New York Yankees as an international free agent in the summer of 2015, but unfortunately, he spent nearly three full seasons in rookie ball, never cracking higher than Double-A in their system. The Angels then acquired him in the trade that sent Andrew Heaney to the Yankees in 2021.
The 6’5″ right-hander features a mid-to-upper 90s fastball and a hard slider as part of his reliever profile. Although he didn’t break camp with the Angels, he was recalled on April 30 but didn’t make an appearance.
His next bit of extended time came from June 25 through July 29, when he had multiple tough outings in which he allowed either one run or four, which he did on two occasions. His few starts of four earned runs can be highlighted as the outliers that caused such a spike in his earned run average.
However, Peguero didn’t perform like the high strikeout guy he’s been throughout his time in the Minor Leagues with just 12 over 17.1 innings pitched. But his 5.59 FIP is indicative of who he was, outside of his outlier outings.
The Angels recalled him in October, but he didn’t pitch again before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in the package that brought outfielder Hunter Renfroe to L.A.
Elvis Peguero 2022 highlight
On July 26, Peguero tossed two innings of shutout ball against the Kansas City Royals, tallying eight punchouts, and recording just one walk. He did a fine job inducing weak contact and allowed just one hit.
2023 outlook
Peguero remains pre-arbitration eligible as he enters another chapter of his career with the Brewers, and he will be in much better hands from a developmental standpoint.
He won’t be a free agent until 2029 and if the Brewers are able to figure out how to hone in on his upside, they could have a power right-hander for a few years on a solid cost-controlled deal. The Brewers have had a lot of success developing arms, and Peguero looks to be their next breakout reliever.
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