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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 22: A general view of Fenway Park at sunset during the third inning of the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on April 22, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Red Sox pulled off a rare prospect-for-prospect deal Tuesday, trading right-hander Luis Perales to the Nationals for left-hander Jake Bennett, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Bennett, ranked by MLB Pipeline as Washington’s No. 11 prospect, was added to the team’s 40-man roster last month as protection from the Rule 5 Draft. He went 2-5 with a 2.27 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) across three levels in 2025 after missing the previous season following Tommy John surgery.

Perales, Boston’s No. 7 prospect, missed almost all of 2025 rehabbing from Tommy John, returning for only three appearances between Double-A and Triple-A late in the season. The 22-year-old out of Venezuela allowed two runs over 2.1 innings.

 

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Bennett, who turned 25 earlier this month, has a fastball that peaked at 96 mph and routinely sat 92-95 in the Arizona Fall League. His repertoire includes four-seam and two-seam fastballs, a plus changeup and a slider/curveball.

He is expected to debut this season.

“Bennett’s a back-end starter,” The Athletic’s Keith Law said, “but despite being 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds or so, he’s never worked on trying to add velocity, nor has anyone tried to improve either of the breaking pitches (in the modern sense of pitch design, at least.)

“The Red Sox have done this a lot with a lot of guys, including a couple of lefties who will figure into their 2026 rotation plans in Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.”

 

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With a fastball that consistently sits 97 and has hit triple-digits, Perales is viewed in the industry as a high-upside arm.

Perales struggled in the Arizona Fall League, going 0-2 with a 10.32 ERA and 18.3% walk rate for the Salt Lake River Rafters.

Said MLB Pipeline’s Sam Dykstra: “Perales makes up for a lack of physicality with lightning-quick arm speed that generates four-seam fastballs that averaged around 99 mph in the AFL and touched 101 with a flat approach ankle and huge carry up in the strike zone. … There’s a high ceiling here as a starter with a heavy dose of relief risk, if the Nats can’t help him find the zone.”

Douglas Bonjour is a breaking news contributor covering the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and WNBA for Heavy. He is also a contributing writer for The Associated Press and has worked for Point Spreads, the Connecticut Post and Hearst Connecticut Media as a reporter and editor. More about Douglas Bonjour

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