Wily Peralta: Smart with Two Strikes in July

Milwaukee Brewers starter Wily Peralta has been arguably the best starter in baseball over the month of July. In four starts, the 24-year-old right hander from the Dominican Republic has posted a 0.31 ERA and 0.852 WHIP. He has also held opponents to a .161/.250/.215 slash line to go with a strikeout rate of 24.5 percent.

The type of production Peralta has managed this month has been a far cry from what he produced over the first three months of the season, where over 17 starts he notched a 5.58 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. Opposing batters fielded a .294/.356/.419 slash line and struck out at only a 12.5 percent rate.

What's triggered his turnaround more than anything else has been the fact that he's commanded his stuff more efficiently in two-strike counts.

Peralta's two-strike pitch frequency from April through June

• From April to July, Peralta was clearly too over-the-plate with his offerings in two-strike counts.
• Opponents put 50% of his two-strike offerings in play, ranking fourth-highest among qualified starters over that span.
• Opponents' .288 weighted on-base average and .344 slugging percentage on Peralta's two-strike offerings ranked eighth and 11th-highest, respectively, among qualified starters over that span.

Peralta's two-strike pitch frequency in July

• This month, Peralta's two-strike command has improved immensely, consistently placing his offerings in the low-and-away area of the strike zone.
• Opponents are hitting just .206/.222/.106 against Peralta in two-strike counts this month.
• Batters have placed only 32.8% of such offerings in play, ranking 13th-lowest among qualified right-handed starters in July.
• Of the 110 two-strike offerinigs he's thrown this month, Peralta has yet to relinquish an extra-base hit and has yielded a strikeout rate of 48.1 percent.

Don't look at what this 24-year old has done over the course of the season (7-9, 4.30 ERA, 1.426 WHIP), just look at what he's done lately.