The Brothers Peralta: Freddy and Luis, a reliever for the Rockies, meet in the majors

Already the most ebullient player on the Milwaukee Brewers roster, Freddy Peralta was almost bouncing off the walls at American Family Field on Friday afternoon, his megawatt smile just that much wider.

The reason? His younger brother, Luis, is in town this weekend – as a member of the Colorado Rockies bullpen.

The left-hander, who made his major-league appearance on Aug. 24, rode side-by-side with his right-handed older brother on scooters as the two made their way through the service level of the ballpark in advance of their teams' series opener.

There will be a family gathering including the Peraltas' parents following Friday's game at Freddy's house.

But first, there was the business of competing between the lines.

The two teams are in vastly different positions; the Brewers' magic number to clinch the Central Division title is 12 and the Rockies 32 1/2 games off the pace in the National League West. But that will have no effect on the Peraltas, who are finally achieving the dream of competing against each other at the major-league level.

“For years," Freddy said when asked how long he'd dreamt of the scenario. "I wasn’t expecting all of this (so soon), him being here, and then we’re playing together.

"It’s a gift from God."

Freddy's story is well-known – the right-hander is a former all-star, one of the best strikeout artists in the NL in recent seasons and currently situated at the front of the Brewers' remade rotation. He burst onto the scene on Mother's Day back in 2018 with 13 strikeouts in a win against the Rockies at Coors Field as a 22-year-old prospect.

Luis, 23, signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent back in 2017 and reached as high as the Class AA level in the minor leagues before being traded to the Rockies in exchange for reliever Jalen Beeks on July 29.

He made a total of six appearances at two levels in Colorado's minor-league system before debuting at Yankee Stadium and enters the series in Milwaukee with 5 ⅓ shutout innings under his belt.

Luis throws a four-seam fastball that averages 94.9 mph and a curveball, a primarily two-pitch arsenal that sounds awfully familiar to what Freddy used to attack hitters for his first few years with the Brewers.

Asked how Luis compares to Freddy at the same age, Freddy was emphatic in his response.

“He has better stuff than me. Way better," he said. "He has the fastball that he can use in different ways, a very good fastball. He has the slider that is kind of like a curveball, and he has the cutter. He has a changeup, but he's not throwing it a lot. I don’t know why, but it is there, too.

"He has better stuff than me when I came up. It is way different. (I was) fastball and curveball. That’s it.

“He throws harder, too. Don’t say that too loud.”

Informed of his brother's comments, Luis smiled.

"I’m very happy to hear that," he said. "I thank God for the opportunity, and I thank him every day because I train with him in the offseason. He supports me and gives me a lot of advice, and I take it to heart.

"It’s something that’s very special to me."

Freddy provided some background on Luis's ascension to the major leagues.

“He was an outfielder before he became a pitcher," he said.. "He was a good hitter, he had power and all of that. Somebody told him he had a better chance as a pitcher, and I thought that, too, but I didn’t want to get involved in that because I wanted him to feel good in whatever he was doing.

"He moved to a pitcher, and people were right.”

Luis pointed to Freddy's support as a big reason for his development.

"Lucky for me as a young kid, I always had the ability to throw the ball well and be a good pitcher," he said. "Any advice he gives me, he’s my older brother, I listen to him.

"Any time he speaks, I listen."

The Peraltas' father, Pedro, will be in the stands all weekend along with their mother, Octavia Diaz. Pedro, being somewhat torn, settled on wearing a Rockies hat and Brewers jersey so as to suitably support both of his sons.

While it was obviously unclear heading into the series if or when Luis would pitch, both brothers were asked specifically about Sunday. That's when Freddy will start for the Brewers, with a relief appearance by Luis for the Rockies providing for a storybook moment if the game should happen to allow it.

“It’s going to be fun if that happens, but you never know," said Freddy, who mentioned he might be more nervous if Luis pitches Friday or Saturday. Freddy typically retreats to the clubhouse and watches the game on TV when that happens.

"It doesn’t matter what happens, it’s going to be exciting. It’s a gift. It’s exciting. We’re just proud.”

Added Luis: "It’d probably be the best experience I’d have to date. It’s something I look forward to. Hopefully it happens."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Brothers Peralta: Freddy and Luis, a reliever for the Rockies, meet in the majors