The Milwaukee Brewers’ first external addition of the 2025-26 offseason came back on October 22, just five days after the team lost four straight to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. By way of a waiver claim, the Brewers added Sammy Peralta, a left-handed reliever who made five appearances for the Los Angeles Angels last year.

Despite showing flashes of potential throughout his minor league career, Peralta has yet to put it all together at the big-league level. In those five aforementioned appearances with the Angels last season, he allowed nine earned runs, with the six free passes that he issued being of particular concern. Peralta also appeared in the majors in 2023 and 2024, in both cases as a member of the Chicago White Sox. His numbers were slightly better in the 25 relief appearances he made for the White Sox, with a 4.37 ERA to prove it.

Even still, it was another under-the-radar bullpen signing for Matt Arnold and company, something that they’ve done incredibly well with in years past. From Jared Koenig and Grant Anderson seemingly coming out of nowhere to become high-leverage weapons to Milwaukee turning Trevor Megill, who was designated for assignment by the Minnesota Twins prior to joining the Brewers, into an All-Star closer, the organization’s front office has a knack for spinning straw into gold when it comes to their relief corps.

Peralta could be the latest recipient of the Milwaukee makeover, in which the team uses their renowned pitching lab to optimize a pitcher’s arsenal, getting more out of their pitches than ever before. Though his funky arm slot and decent sinker-slider combo suggest Peralta will be of value to Milwaukee at some point in 2026, it’s his strong start in the Dominican Winter League that should have Brewers fans most encouraged.

Sammy Peralta is off to a strong start with the Estrellas Orientales in the 2025-26 Dominican Winter League

The Dominican Winter League, also known as LIDOM (an abbreviation for Liga Dominicana), is a popular offseason destination for big leaguers. With strong competition, many big leaguers use the league to stay sharp over the offseason, especially less-established players who still have much to prove at the MLB level.

This winter, Peralta, who is competing in LIDOM for the third time in his career, is suiting up for the Estrellas Orientales, which is the same squad he competed with a year ago. Peralta struggled in LIDOM a season ago, surrendering four earned runs in his limited 4.2 innings of work, but this year has been a completely different story.

Peralta has made six appearances so far this winter, covering seven total innings. He’s surrendered just one earned run, giving him a 1.29 ERA. He’s struck out five opposing hitters while walking just one. It’s obviously a very small sample size, but paired with the fact that the Brewers’ front office had enough confidence in Peralta to hand him a 40-man roster spot at the beginning of the offseason, his performance is rather encouraging. It’s even possible the Brewers have already given Peralta some things to change this offseason, and those moves are already paying off in LIDOM.

It’s almost a certainty that a relatively unknown reliever will emerge as a weapon in Pat Murphy’s bullpen at some point in 2026; the trend has persisted in each of the last few seasons in Milwaukee. If his performance this winter is any indication, Sammy Peralta might just be this year’s breakout reliever.