Less than a month removed from his 20th birthday, Pérez will become the youngest player to ever pitch for the Marlins in a regular season game.
Kim Ng ain’t afraid of making a bold decision. As announced during Wednesday’s game, the Miami Marlins are calling up right-hander Eury Pérez. Pérez will bypass Triple-A Jacksonville and make the jump straight from Double-A Pensacola to join the Marlins starting rotation on Friday for his major league debut, facing the Cincinnati Reds in Miami. He’ll become the youngest Marlins pitcher…ever!
I would expect Perez to also start next week against the Washington Nationals, at home. Still undetermined if this is a permanent spot in the rotation or just a handful of starts until the return of Trevor Rogers. Remember, he is completely skipping over AAA.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) May 10, 2023
The consensus top talent in the Marlins organization, Pérez was signed by the Fish out of the Dominican Republic as an international free agent in 2019. He is currently ranked as Major League Baseball’s No. 4 overall prospect by Just Baseball, No. 6 by Baseball America and No. 11 by MLB Pipeline. Pérez just turned 20 on April 15.
Pérez was a non-roster invitee at Marlins Spring Training this year. He made four Grapefruit League appearances (7.59 ERA in 10.2 IP) before being reassigned to minor league camp.
This promotion comes on the heels of four consecutive excellent outings at Double-A. Pérez limited his opponents to four or fewer baserunners in each of them while striking out 38.5% of total batters faced.
Pérez isn’t yet on the 40-man roster, hence why his pending call-up was not announced directly by Ng. The Marlins will officially select his contract—and make the corresponding roster moves—prior to Friday’s game. Bryan Hoeing, who was previously listed as Miami’s probable starter for Friday, pitched in relief on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks instead. Pérez will move into his rotation spot, with the question being whether or not Hoeing still remains on the active roster in a bullpen role. Perhaps they’ll just designate journeyman Chi Chi González for assignment?
Regular season, rehab assignment and postseason combined, Pérez threw only 83 competitive innings last year. The Marlins’ recent handling of their other pitching prospects suggests 2023 will be an intermediate step between that and a full-season starter’s workload. It will be fascinating to see how the club balances the desire to remain in playoff contention with looking out for his long-term well-being.
Much, much more to come…