PITTSBURGH -- Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez went to bed Sunday night knowing the wait was finally over. And 628 days after last taking a big league mound, he was ready for his highly anticipated return from Tommy John surgery.
Sleep came relatively easy to Pérez, who woke up in the middle of the night before getting more rest. How could he not be a bundle of nerves and excitement?
After Mother Nature made him wait out a 41-minute rain delay, Pérez struck out five batters but allowed four runs over three innings in Monday night’s 10-3 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.
“It was great to see him back out there,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “I think that was it. I told him when he got done, ‘Maybe not the outing you were thinking about, but think about all the time from when it happened to getting to this point, like you should be very proud of the work you put in.’ Look, it's one start, right? And many more to come. [He’s a] big part of our present and our future.”
Pérez flirted with triple digits throughout big league camp this spring and carried that over into the series opener. With the help of some adrenaline, 32 of his 70 pitches clocked at 98-plus mph, with eight reaching at least 99 mph. That type of velocity is usually reserved for the likes of Reds flamethrower Hunter Greene and reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
And the results matched the velocity through the first two frames. Pérez tossed a perfect first inning on 13 pitches, opening the outing with a strikeout of Oneil Cruz. He worked around a two-out single by Adam Frazier in the second.
But Pérez needed 39 pitches – a career high for an inning – in a four-run third. Facing the bottom of the order, he walked the leadoff batter, then permitted a broken-bat single. Another walk invited pitching coach Daniel Moskos to the mound for a visit. Pérez induced a slow roller that got under his glove for an RBI infield hit. Bryan Reynolds followed with a bases-clearing triple. Pérez recovered by retiring the next three batters, two via strikeout, to end his start on a high note.
“Got some deep counts and some foul balls,” McCullough said. “I thought he threw some good sliders, the fastball obviously had good velocity, and I think the command will continue to come as he just gets back out there and gets back into the rhythm and the flow of things. So all in all, for me, while he may probably not be happy with how things turned out, the results, but to be back out there again and have the chance in the next turn to get back on the mound is great for us.”
The Marlins are even more grateful for Pérez’s return after the news of lefty Ryan Weathers being diagnosed with a left lat strain. Righty Max Meyer (left hip impingement) is also sidelined.
Quality arms like Pérez’s don’t come around often. At 20, he was establishing himself as one of the game’s brightest young arms. Despite making his Major League debut over two years ago, Pérez remained the youngest starting pitcher (22 years, 55 days) in MLB on Monday.
Fate brought Pérez back to Pittsburgh, where he and ace Sandy Alcantara had already been shut down due to injury when Miami celebrated its 2023 postseason berth. Alcantara would undergo Tommy John surgery less than a week later, while Pérez dealt with left SI (pelvis) joint inflammation. When elbow inflammation arose during Spring Training, he underwent the same procedure as his mentor six months later.
“It's a lot of things that come to your head, when you have a process like that, but the only thing you have to do is keep positive and keep believing in yourself,” Alcantara said. “We know that's a long process, but you don't have to feel like coming back too quick. You have to believe what they say in there, because they have the voice to say you're good or not. It's a lot of things coming to your head, some positive things, negative things. You have to believe in yourself.”
Pérez, who wrote his late grandmother’s name, Juana Pichardo, on his cap and behind the mound, was reminded Monday that the recovery process doesn’t end here. The velo will come and go. The command will take time.
“I will take everything [from tonight],” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “This is my return, coming back, being on the mound again. I know the results were not what I was hoping for, but I'm back in the game. I truly believe I'm going to have better results in the future.”