Xander Bogaerts sat across from Wandy Peralta at a small table on a recent morning. The low hum of the clubhouse drifted around them — players eating, chatting, scrolling on their phones — but the two were locked in on the dominoes board between them, the one Peralta recently purchased for the team.
A guttural laugh cut through the room. Peralta sprang to his feet, phone in hand and ready to record, as Bogaerts groaned and dropped into a squat.
“Uno, dos, tres …” Peralta shouted. “Look up at the camera!”
Ten squats later, the debt was settled. Satisfied, Peralta slipped his phone into his locker and began preparing for relievers’ throwing practice.
Such is life for the 34-year-old reliever, nicknamed la grasa — “the grease” — for his ability to “bring the flavor.” The bullpen’s beloved veteran is, by his teammates’ account, “the funniest guy around.”
The question is: Why?
The answer is both simple and nuanced.
Peralta, in his 11th major league season, pitched for the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees before signing with San Diego ahead of the 2024 season. He owns a 3.73 career ERA, with stretches of dominance as a lefty killer. His groundball rate in 2025 ranked in the 97th percentile among big-league pitchers, and last season he made a career-high 71 appearances while adding 1⅓ scoreless innings in the postseason.
He also pitched in the World Baseball Classic this year, but most fans usually name only two Padres on the Dominican Republic roster: Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Peralta is sort of the forgotten piece, at least publicly. He is solid but not spectacular, productive but rarely celebrated.
“He’s never getting all the glory,” reliever Ron Marinaccio said.
But around his teammates, Peralta is revered.
“He’s just a good dude,” said Jeremiah Estrada. “He is the perfect example of the funny tío. A funny uncle. That’s him. The funny tío that’s at the carne asada, that’s on the grill, the one opening the Modelos, the one that’s making jokes. He’s just the tío that you like to be around.
“I thought he was one of the coaches when he first arrived,” Estrada laughed. “I was like, ‘Who’s this new coach?’ Nope, he’s a player. He looks like a tío, bro.”
Wandy Peralta of the San Diego Padres greets Ben Fritz during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The right mix
The bullpen is a sacred space. Relievers, separated from the rest of the team but squarely in the middle of fans, have their own set of rules. Some are more serious; others keep it light. Peralta does both.
“He’s the right amount of relaxed, the right amount of humor, that just brings a sense of calm,” said bullpen coach Ben Fritz. “I feel like there’s a good balance of all those guys down there, but Wandy, specifically, he’s a veteran. He’s been around. He knows when to be serious. Knows how to keep it light with a joke. It just really creates a good atmosphere. He’s good to be around.”
“In the bullpen, plane rides, whatever,” said David Morgan. “He’s a comedian.”
Part of the joke is that not everyone understands what Peralta is saying.
“There’s certain things he’ll say in Spanish and (the Spanish speakers) all start dying laughing and you laugh too, just because,” Fritz said.
“He’s always got some funny comment to say about something,” said Morgan. “He’s obviously very serious when he’s working, but when he’s not, it’s kind of similar to Jason (Adam). Just lighthearted. Always finds a way to make this game fun.”
It’s the type of personality that eases tension in a bullpen, when long wait times increase anxiety and uncertainty. Bonus points if the reliever, like Peralta, is also heralded for his routine and acumen.
“He’s having fun with life,” Estrada said. “Like me right now, I’m always quiet, not that talkative in the pen. I’m trying to get this, get that. But with him, he’d be like, ‘Bro, take it easy.’ I’m like, ‘Bro.’ … It is important. You got to loosen it up. Example: I was living tight (the) first outing of the year. You don’t want to be intense. You know, you can be sitting there watching the whole game, like, ‘When am I gonna go in? When am I gonna go in?’ and tapping your feet. But if you’re gonna be like that, you’re wasting energy. Peralta, he takes off that hard energy.”
Peralta sees that as part of his role.
“I can’t really define it, what type of humor it is,” Peralta said. “I’ve always wanted to make this a group setting and a family setting, where these guys are getting along with each other. And there are some moments during the game when (the humor) just, like, comes out of me, and the guys, they enjoy it. But I try to keep it comfortable, where people don’t have to be timid or tense. It’s more about just being loose. I just like having that atmosphere with the guys. It makes everything more comfortable around them.
“Not everybody has this opportunity. You’re not going to be a pitcher out there for the rest of your life, so just enjoy it to the max.”
Wandy Peralta of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Detroit Tigers in the ninth inning during Opening Day at Petco Park on Thursday, March 26, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Helping hand
Peralta’s influence extends beyond humor. He has helped Bradgley Rodriguez and Randy Vásquez with how to be a big-leaguer — everything from what to say or not say in the clubhouse to how to go about work on the field to conduct on a plane.
“(Peralta) is extremely funny, but his experience shows pretty much every night — and his routine is impressive, too,” reliever Kyle Hart said. “He knows exactly what his recipe is for success and for getting prepared. I think we’ve all been able to kind of enjoy watching it, but also learn from it. He helped me with my slider — and that’s his third pitch. He might throw one or two every week. But he’s able to diagnose and help other guys, too.
“I think for someone like me, where I’m still trying to find my footing in this bullpen, it’s relieving to go down there and just know that you have Wandy every night.”
Mason Miller recalls the first pitchers’ meeting of spring training, when relievers and starters gather for an introductory session outlining expectations and how to carry themselves during the six-week stretch. The setting can feel overwhelming, particularly for rookies and younger players. Veterans typically address the room.
“Being in a Latin player’s position and having Joe (Musgrove) or (Nick) Pivetta or (Michael) King say something, it’s kind of like, ‘I’m sure there’s a little bit of a language barrier there,’” Miller said. “But Wandy spoke. I don’t know what he said, but it sounded a lot more serious than he usually is. So I loved that out of him, just for those guys — just being an older Latin guy that has the ability to connect in ways that some of us aren’t able to. I respected him a lot before that, but my respect went through the roof seeing him do that too.”
Wandy Peralta smiles as he tosses a ball back during Padres spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 in Peoria, Ariz.. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Bringing it home
To understand Peralta is to know where he comes from.
The Dominican Republic native grew up modestly in San Francisco de Macoris, a midsize city in the country’s agricultural heartland. In the minor leagues, he slept on an air mattress for seven months of the year, far from his family, grinding through a new country with high expectations and few certainties. His family would encourage him when times were tough, which was essentially most of the time.
“For myself, that started out with nothing, and even going through the minor leagues, you know, not many people (were) supporting me at that time,” Peralta said. “That’s where I think all the little bits of parts of me, the little sand that I could put into this game, that’s where it comes from. I’m just so honored to be part of this because with that trajectory — not many people have helped me out in the past, and (it) can seem like it’s all nice, full of roses and everything up here in the big leagues, but it’s about what I’ve had to go through during that time where I started out in the minor leagues.
“I’ve really had to work hard to get to this point where I am right now. … I’m so grateful for this opportunity now of just being up here and giving all my time, (giving) that back to all these guys.”
The gratitude informs every aspect of Peralta’s life, from clubhouse interactions to hugs with his wife and daughter. He wants his teammates to enjoy the game and embrace the work that comes with it, even when an outing turns sour.
“Everybody has a tough day, right?” Peralta said. “For me, it’s just letting them know that this is just one day out of 162. Like, we’re all together throughout eight months of the year. It’s going to be all right … You just have to forget about all those things that happened to you today and go on the next day, because otherwise you’re just going to be stuck in that same rut. You might as well just let it go after this day.”
Peralta carries a 1.80 ERA into this week’s games, which include trips to high-elevation Denver and Mexico City. His last six innings have been scoreless.
Whatever the result, he brings the same optimism and reverence each day, and his bullpen mates are better for it.
“He just keeps us happy,” Rodriguez said, “and he keeps us ready.”