One of the biggest strengths the Tampa Bay Rays had heading into the MLB playoffs was their pitching staff.

The Rays may not have many household names for the casual fan, but this is a deep and talented group of arms they have compiled. Leading the staff is their ace, Drew Rasmussen, who dominated Game 1 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees.

He has owned the Yankees throughout his career, and he continued that trend with eight shutout innings in a 1-0 victory. Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into that frame while striking out 10 batters.

With a 1-0 series lead, Tampa Bay is set to host Game 2 at Tropicana Field. To the surprise of some, it won’t be Nick Martinez taking the mound. Instead, according to Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times on X, the Rays will be turning to Freddy Peralta to start.

Freddy Peralta is right choice to start Game 2

While some people may be surprised at that decision, it is the right one for the team to make. Peralta’s last appearance was on Sept. 25 against the Philadelphia Phillies, giving him ample time to be rested for a postseason outing, with 10 days between starts.

Creatures of habit, it will be interesting to see how the time off has impacted Peralta. Starting Game 2 is the right call because if Tampa Bay were going to wait until Game 3 to start him, he would have had nearly two weeks of time off.

Martinez is going to have a lot of time off between starts, as well as the presumed starter for the first game at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 7. With his last start coming on Sept. 27 during the regular season, he will have nine days of rest between starts.

It makes sense to get Peralta out there so he isn’t off more days; he also earned the Game 2 start with his recent performance. Martinez had an excellent 2026 campaign, but he did give up at least two earned runs in each of his last three starts, including four earned runs in only 2.2 innings in his last start against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Peralta, on the other hand, has been dominating. He has allowed only three earned runs across his last six starts, and the Rays won all of them, with the talented righty posting a 0.79 ERA across 34 innings of work with 27 strikeouts.

The coaching staff has done a wonderful job of getting Peralta’s mechanics back in check after struggles with the New York Mets before the trade deadline, when Tampa Bay acquired him. His first four starts with the Rays were concerning, but he looked like the ace he was with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2025 in the last few weeks of the regular season.

Riding an incredible wave of positive momentum, the veteran will look to keep it going in Game 2 against New York.