Longtime Diamondbacks quarterback David Peralta officially retires from baseball. He issued a statement to MLBTR announcing the news:
“I want to officially announce my retirement from baseball. I want to thank God for all the blessings he has given me, for giving me the best parents and sisters who have always supported me. For my beautiful wife and beautiful children who have always been with me and supported me unconditionally. Thank you to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for making my dreams come true, for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to play the best baseball in the world – thank you to another baseball organization. They were part of my career; the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres for making me a Gold Glover, and thanks to Jose Amado for making me a Silver Slugger.
It was many years of hard work, dedication and discipline, and now I can say with my head that ‘I did it.’ The Freight Train has finally reached its destination – HOME. Thank you baseball!”
Peralta took a bumpy road to what would become a very productive career. He signed with the Cardinals as a left fielder out of his native Venezuela in 2004. Control issues and two shoulder surgeries kept him out of rookie ball. When St. When Louis released him, he was 21 years old and had not yet reached Low-A.
Peralta entered the independent ranks and reinvented himself as a hitter. It was a career-changing change. He played two seasons in indie ball, impressing the Diamondbacks so much that they bought out his contract during the 2013 campaign. He pitched consistently in High-A and jumped to Double-A the following season. In the middle of June (June) the snakes have pushed it to the big stage. He hit .286/.320/.450 in 88 games and entered the next year as an everyday player.
Peralta’s first full MLB season was arguably his best career. He slashed .312/.371/.522 while connecting on 26 doubles, 10 triples, and 17 home runs. Peralta worked with him AJ Pollock again Ender Inciarte in a quiet place that is one of the best competitions in the league. The D-Backs traded for Inciarte the following offseason Shelby Miller deal, while Peralta battled injuries and was limited to 48 games in 2016.
Peralta also hit .293 in back-to-back seasons after that, helping the D-Backs make the playoffs earlier in those years. He connected on 30 home runs in 2018, setting career marks in both homers and RBI (87). Peralta was one of four National League outfielders with 30+ homers and ranked sixth on the team with an .868 OPS. He was named the Silver Slugger on the sideline Christian Yelich again Nick Markakis.
The 2019 season saw Peralta reap the rewards on the other side of the ball. He led NL hitters with +9 Defensive Runs Saved en route to the Glove. He entered the second straight season with an OPS over .800 as well, hitting .275/.343/.461 with 29 doubles before season-ending shoulder surgery. His production began to decline after that, though he hit .300 during the season-shortened 2020 season for the second time in his career.
Arizona signed Peralta to a three-year, $22MM extension in advance of what would have been his 2020 walk-off year. That kept him in the desert for another season and a half, but the team’s poor performance led to him being traded at the ’22 deadline. The Snakes traded him to the Rays before hitting his first free agency.
Peralta finished his career back in the NL West. He signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers through 2023 and spent the final four months of the ’24 season on the Padres roster after signing a minor league deal. Although he was a consistent player at the time, he finished his career with a respectable .267/.335/.415 showing over 91 games for San Diego. A return to the senior ranks that year also saw him reach the milestone of 10 years of service.
His teams made the postseason each year from 2022-24. Peralta went 4-for-13 with a homer off Jack Flaherty in a five-game NLDS loss to the Dodgers in what would be his final major league action. He did not sign through the 2025 season, although he did make a brief return in the Venezuelan Winter League this year.
The left-handed hitter finishes his career with a .278/.335/.448 batting line. He hit 125 home runs and surpassed 500 runs and an RBI each. Peralta had 1166 hits and twice led the National League in triples. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each peg him at about 17 wins above replacement, while B-Ref pegs his career salary at north of $40MM.
Peralta is one of indie football’s most successful signings, and is among the best players in Arizona’s 28-year team history. You only go Luis Gonzalez, Paul Goldschmidt again Ketel Marte in games and hitting in a D-Backs uniform, while ranking in the top 10 in homers, RBI, and WAR among position players. Congratulations to Peralta on a great career and all the best in his post-playing days.
Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.
