Joel Peralta Gutiérrez (/dʒoʊˈɛl pəˈrɑːltə/; Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈel peˈɾalta]; born March 23, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher.

[2] His 2002 season was also split between Cedar Rapids & Arkansas, appearing in 53 games with a 5-0 record, 2.49 ERA and 21 saves combined between the two leagues.

[2] He also made his AAA debut, walking the one batter he faced on August 2 for the Salt Lake Stingers of the Pacific Coast League.

[2] Peralta made his Major League Baseball debut on May 25 for the Angels against the Chicago White Sox.

[6] He signed with the Colorado Rockies as a free agent on April 8, 2009 after being released by the Royals at the end of spring training.

[6] At the end of the 2009 season, he became a free agent, and was signed to a minor league contract by the Washington Nationals.

On June 21, he was called up to join the Nationals as an eighth reliever,[7] and the next night made his 2010 debut, pitching to one batter and inducing a double play.

[6] He also made his first postseason appearance, pitching in three games in the 2011 American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers.

Andrew Friedman, the Rays Executive Vice-President of Baseball Operations said of him at the time, “We love Joel’s competitiveness and the impact he has on the younger pitchers in our bullpen.”[14] He made a career high 80 appearances in 2013, leading the Majors and setting a club record for a right-handed pitcher and his third straight 70-plus appearance season.

[6] He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on November 20, 2014 (along with Adam Liberatore) for Jose Dominguez and Greg Harris.