Marlins aim to lean more on ‘skyscraper’ Perez
JUPITER
Marlins right-handed pitcher Eury Perez lived up to the hype during his rookie season.
“It was an incredible year for me,” Perez said. “A lot of first times — first big-league game, a lot of facing new players, great opportunities. I evaluate it as a very successful season.”
Now, it’s time for the encore.
Perez, who is 6-foot-8 and doesn’t turn 21 until April 15, knows he can provide so much more to the Marlins as he gears up for his second MLB season.
And with ace Sandy Alcantara sidelined for 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, the Marlins are relying on Perez to tap into some of that untapped potential.
“Physically, he’s still growing,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “He’s 20 years old. He’s literally probably still growing.
The stuff can get obviously sharper and secondary pitches landing early in counts, that type of thing. He’s still working on being a complete pitcher, and it’s just not
[about] out-talenting the league.”
Perez gave another reminder of what he can offer — and what he still needs to work on — in his spring training debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Perez gave up one run on three hits while striking out three over 12⁄3 innings against a Cardinals lineup that featured many of their big-league regulars. Two of Perez’s strikeouts were swinging strikeouts on his fourseam fastball — 99.3 mph against Dylan Carlson to begin his outing and 97.3 mph against Jeremy Rivas to end his outing. He also struck out Nolan Gorman looking with an 85.8 mph slider.
“The life on his fastball is real,” said catcher Curt Casali, who was behind the plate for Perez’s start Monday. “It feels like he’s literally placing it in my glove. That’s how far his reach is . ... He looks like a skyscraper on the mound. It’s not fun to look at as a hitter. To have that as a starting point before you even throw the ball, it’s a huge advantage. He’s got a bright future.”
But Perez also had several lengthy at-bats, an issue that surfaced throughout his rookie season when Miami was monitoring his innings and kept him from going deep into games. Of the eight batters Perez faced Monday, five were at least five pitches. He was ahead in the count 0-2 in four of them.
Sometimes, though, that comes with starts early in spring training. Pitchers aren’t necessarily gameplanning for hitters just yet and rather are focusing on getting work in with specific pitches. On Monday, for example, Perez experimented with a new grip on his curveball that results in a lower velocity but more movement to complement the rest of his arsenal.
“I need to continue to practice,” Perez said. “I was trying new things, different pitches. Put that in practice and finish the hitters.”
Perez understands what a strong second season can bring to the Marlins. They have a void in the rotation without Alcantara, who has been Perez’s mentor over the past year and the workhorse in the rotation the past five seasons.
“It is very important for me and the rest of the team,” Perez said. “I need to help the team, knowing that Sandy’s not gonna help us. Gotta get those innings, try to pitch as many innings as I can and help the team.”
Alcantara still is keeping an eye on Perez. Wherever Perez goes, Alcantara isn’t far behind. It’s almost a complete role reversal from last spring training, when Perez was essentially Alcantara’s shadow.
“It depends on what he wants in his life,” Alcantara said. “If he wants to be here for a long time, he’s got to be in a great spot and work hard.”
Perez showed over long stretches last season just how dominant he can be.
After making his highly anticipated MLB debut on May 12 at 20 years and 27 days old — making him the youngest pitcher in franchise history to make his Major League debut, and the youngest for a Dominican-born starting pitcher all-time — Perez went on to make 19 starts and pitch to a 3.15 ERA over 911⁄3 innings. He struck out 108 batters while walking just 31 and held opponents to a .214 batting average against.
Through his first 11 starts — before being sent to Double A for a month from early July to early August to manage his workload so that he had innings left for the Marlins’ playoff push — Perez had a 2.36 ERA, which was the lowest for a pitcher 20 years old or younger with at least 50 innings pitched in the Live Ball Era (since 1920). He was also the youngest player (20 years and 71 days old) since at least 1901 to record three consecutive scoreless outings of sixplus innings.
Perez’s season ended Sept. 23 when the Marlins placed him on the injured list with left SI joint inflammation.
That has motivated Perez even more to come through for his team until the end of the 2024 season.
“Anybody who’s been through 162 [games can tell you] it’s different than a minor-league season or taking a month off or whatever it is, going through the IL,” Schumaker said. “If you can go through a healthy 162, you should be mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the year.
“It’s not something you can practice at home or offseason-wise. Until you go through it, you don’t know what it feels like. So just getting him through a 162-game season healthy with his innings and all that stuff, I think, is the next step.”