The Red Sox and Nationals Trade Big League-Ready Pitching Prospects

Last night, the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Nationals swapped pitching prospects in a one-for-one challenge trade that will likely have an impact on both clubs in 2026. Hard-throwing 22-year-old righty Luis Perales heads to Washington, while changeup-oriented lefty Jake Bennett goes to Boston. Both pitchers participated in the 2025 Arizona Fall League, starting a game against each other on November 1.

Of the two, I slightly prefer the 25-year-old Bennett, who I have evaluated as a near-ready starter and a potential Top 100 prospect this offseason due to his floor and proximity to the majors. Bennett entered pro ball much more fully formed than most pitching prospects from a stamina standpoint, as he worked 117 innings as a junior at Oklahoma. He had Tommy John at the very end of his first pro season, in September of 2023, which cost him all of 2024. He returned to action this past May, and his stuff was up about two ticks compared to when he was last healthy, while his feel for location was intact. He posted a 2.27 ERA across 75.1 innings while reaching Double-A, then picked up 20 more innings in Arizona and was added to the Nationals 40-man roster after the season.

Bennett is a strapping 6-foot-6 southpaw who throws quality strikes with a 92-95 mph fastball that plays up a bit due to its other traits. He powers way down the mound and generates just over seven feet of extension, and he also routinely commands his fastball to elevated locations where it plays best, giving it slightly more bat-missing ability than a pitch with below-average velocity typically enjoys. His changeup has average action, but it generated plus miss in 2025 because of how well Bennett hides the ball and sells hitters the look of a fastball on release. His slider isn’t great, but Bennett is able to command it just off the corner of the plate.

Lefties with plus command of plus changeups tend to pan out, and Bennett fits this archetype to a tee. He feels a lot like Parker Messick did last offseason, a valuable plug-and-play rotation piece who is ready to assume a rotation spot by the end of the season. An aggressive promotion and major league debut seemed more likely in Washington, and the crowded field of potential big league pitchers in Boston makes it more likely that Bennett debuts in a spot start capacity. Long-term, he projects as a fourth starter.

Perales, a 22-year-old Venezuelan righty, is more likely a reliever. He had a two-tick fastball bump in 2024 preceding his own Tommy John, which cost him all but the very end of the 2025 regular season. He was touching 101 and sitting 97-99 in Arizona during the fall, but Perales more often pitches off of his low-90s cutter, which he commands more reliably (though not by much). It’s possible Perales was rusty because he was fresh off of rehab, but he lacked feel for finding the strike zone. His violent delivery, relative lack of size compared to other starters, and the way his fastball plane makes it vulnerable to contact (hence the cutter-heavy approach) are all markers of a future reliever.

But Perales will probably be a really nasty one, potentially a good closer. There are times when the downhill plane of his pitches adds artificial depth to his cutter, and he, in effect, ends up throwing 89-94 mph sliders. He also has an explicit slider in the 84-86 mph range, and it’s very hard for hitters to stay on both of these pitches even though they finish on the same side of the plate. An occasional splitter rounds out a pitch mix that Washington would totally be justified in attempting to shape into a starter for another season, especially if Perales’ injury history ends up fetching them an extra option year. More likely, Perales ends up in the bullpen, and he could be one of the best two or three Nats arms there by the end of the year.