The Marlins announced this afternoon that right-hander Eury Perez is experiencing elbow soreness and is set to undergo imaging and testing over the course of the coming days. Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds that part of the club’s diagnostic process will be a trip to Texas, where Perez will meet with noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister. Earlier this week, Perez was pulled from a Spring Training start after just 14 pitches due to discomfort caused by a broken fingernail.
It’s a brutal blow for the Marlins, who have been ravaged by rotation injuries this offseason. Sandy Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery back in the fall and is set to miss the entire 2024 campaign, and since then both Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera have dealt with shoulder issues that could relegate them to the injured list to begin the season. Now Perez appears all but certain to open the regular season on the shelf as well. While the severity of the 20-year-old phenom’s specific issue is uncertain, concerns regarding the elbow are particularly ominous due to the possibility of a lengthy absence.
Elbow surgeries can often wipe out a pitcher’s entire season, as is the case with Alcantara, and even non-surgical rehab can take a pitcher away from game action for months at a time, as was recently demonstrated by Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Even in the best case scenario, the time spent determining the extent of Perez’s injury figures to set him back as he looks to build up his pitch count for the regular season. Perez’s aforementioned fingernail issue has limited his ability to prepare for the coming season this spring, and with just two weeks until Opening Day and the right-hander likely to be sidelined for at least a few more days, it’s hard to imagine him being able to avoid at least a brief stint on the injured list.
With Perez, Cabrera, and Garrett all at least at risk of joining Alcantara on the injured list to open the season, that leaves southpaw Jesus Luzardo as the only member of the club’s on-paper starting rotation who is currently expected to be available on Opening Day. Southpaw A.J. Puk was already widely expected to begin the season in the club’s rotation after the club made the decision to stretch the lefty out despite his success as a high-leverage arm in the club’s bullpen last year, and the injuries also seem likely to open the door for the likes of Trevor Rogers and Ryan Weathers to step into rotation roles as the season begins. That would still leave the fifth spot in the club’s rotation vacant, however, though right-hander Bryan Hoeing represents one option already on the 40-man roster and the club has plenty of potential non-roster options at its disposal including Yonny Chirinos, Vladimir Gutierrez, and Devin Smeltzer.
Of course, none of those potential depth options can be reasonably expected to deliver the sort of impact that Perez offers. The righty, 21 next month, was a consensus top-15 prospect in all of baseball when he made his debut for Miami last year, and he immediately flashed the front-of-the-rotation potential that his prospect pedigree suggested as he dazzled with a microscopic 1.34 ERA and a solid 3.02 FIP in his first nine starts in the majors. He struck out 29.2% of batters faced during that stretch, and while midsummer struggles led the club to limit his workload down the stretch the youngster nonetheless features prominently in the club’s plans for the 2024 season and beyond. So much so, in fact, that Perez was generally regarded as the club’s sole untouchable as they fielded trade offers on the likes of Garrett, Luzardo, and Cabrera during the offseason.
The rotation injuries have been a major blow to a Marlins club that is looking to build upon a surprising postseason appearance in 2023. The club’s starting pitchers ranked top ten in the majors last year in ERA, FIP, and fWAR while striking out the fourth-most batters in all of baseball. That dominant run prevention apparatus was key to the club’s success last year as the lineup lagged behind, ranking just 20th in the majors with a collective wRC+ of 94. With so many injuries impacting the club’s rotation already this year, the team will need strong performance from the likes of Luis Arraez, Josh Bell, Jake Burger, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. if the club hopes to return to postseason contention in 2024.
Here we go again! Another star pitcher is out! The f is happening??
From a fingernail to an elbow
One helluva hangnail !
Can’t throw a hundred and not expect this. Let’s throw 90-92 and keep a few pitchers healthy.
90-92? The top guys throw hard, not 90-92.
Imagine what will happen if they move the mound back a few feet like they were considering doing….
I wonder if Jamie Moyer ever checked his spin rate???
Why can’t we have nice things?
That’s funny
Nicely done
The year of the injured pitchers arm has arrived.
Mlb gotta figure out this pitcher injury thing. The future of the sport depends on it.
Jesus hope it’s a false alarm
Is it really necessary for these pitchers to do maximum velocity and spin on every single pitch? Is throwing 100 mph during spring training worth it? Perhaps there will be less number of injuries if they become more of pitchers instead of throwers.
@Susannah: Less number of = Fewer.
Fewer = the amount of times you should correct that
Fewer = the NUMBER of times you should make that mistake, no matter the AMOUNT of food you eat or rain that falls.
Damn. Another one?
This sucks man
FFS, another one?!
This is friggin’ absurd!
I always wondered why arm injuries were way less prevalent in the 60s-2000s. Guys were throwing 15-20 complete games a year and throwing 300 innings (more 60s and 70s for that). They were just fine. They had plenty of velocity too. The new age of baseball is weird. Velocity and home runs.
Coaches teach kids at age 12 to start throwing harder & faster. By the time they are 17 and drafted they are throwing 100+
But by age 21 after a decade of abuse on their arms, they are undergoing TJ
Utah U nailed it. And in addition to that they only play one sport and throw that hard year round
Ding ding ding. This philosophy is the new culture of baseball and it is inherently flawed. Kids start playing year round travel ball now at the age of 7 with tournaments every weekend. By the time they get to middle school they’re pitching midweek and on the weekend. Their arms are shot in high school. It’s wild.
Driveline and their progenye
Thanks for the responses! I played different sports year round as a kid and pitched in college and I was never burnt out. When it was the off season, I just worked out and then would ease into throwing. My 16 yo nephew is playing baseball year round and throwing 88-89, throwing 6 different kinds of off speed and throwing 2-3 bullpens per week at 90%+. I can’t think that’s good for him, but I keep my mouth shut
It is family. Max velo will backfire unless he wants to be a short stint BP prospect for colleges/beyond. Grown adult starters who top off at 93-94 and have 3 solid pitches they can command will prosper by virtue of productive results……even if they are “undervalued” along the way.
Cws
Respectfully, you are saying how it should be not how it is
The guy with the 101 fb gets drafted and bonus money, the guy with savvy who mixes pitches in the 80s is lucky to get a college scholarship
Kids are taking the risk because they are competing for spots against others taking the same absurd risks
Kinda reminds me of the steroid conversations from years past. Players claiming they have to do it to compete, with no regard for the after effects.
I think MLB needs to expand the roster to allow more pitchers on the active team. Some of these guys throw so many innings and there are tons of elbow problems. Nolan Ryan was the exception, not the rule.
Actually What Nolan Ryan did every year was the rule. Ryan going until he was almost 50 was the exception.
Pitching focus from high school on is about as much velocity and spin rate as possible on every single pitch. That’s why elbows explode these days.
I disagree, force pitchers (starting pitchers) to throw more innings, they’ll have to ease up on the accelerometer and probably last longer.
MLB WANTS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PITCHERS FROM 13 TO 12 ALREADY. I THINK MLB DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THE PITCHERS AS LONG AS TEAMS SCORE A LOT OF RUNS. OLD FASHIONED PITCHERS DUELS ARE A THING OF THE PAST! MANAGERS BABY PITCHERS TO PITCH COUNTS TRYING TO AVOID INJURIES, SO COMPLETE GAMES ARE NOT EVEN A THOUGHT IN TODAY’S GAME. MLB WANTS MORE SCORING TO MAKE THE GAME MORE EXCITING TO THE FANS. I THINK THE PITCH COUNT HAS SOMETHING IN COMMON WITH INJURIES. PITCHERS ARE ALWAYS IN A HURRY… AND ARMS, ELBOWS ARE UNDER CONSTANT PRESSURE. TEAMS THAT USE ANYLYTICS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FREQUENCY OF PITCHING CHANGES. I MYSELF DO NOT LIKE THE PITCH CLOCK OR THE 3 BATTER MINIMUM THAT MLB PUT IN TO SHORTEN GAMES…..LET THEM PLAY…WHO CARES ABOUT TIME? BASEBALL WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE TIMED…THATS THE PROBLEM!!!
BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT CAPS, I AM VISUALLY IMPAIRED, NO COMPUTER, KEYBOARD, JUST A SMALL ASS PHONE..
Thanks, didn’t have to find my eating glasses to read this one.
Lol I know you meant reading but if you also had eating glasses as well it would be exceptional
AL B DAMNED, why are you SHOUTING?
Keep your voice down. We can still hear you.
Baron
The shouter explained it at the end
NO WAY!!!! THESE CAPS ARE FOR YOU AL MY BOY! KEEP PREACHING!
Thanks. I didn’t read that far, lol.
These pitchers barely throw any innings. Its the fact they go 100% velocity and/or spin rate on almost every pitch. You would think they would have figured this out by now.
Reduce pitchers to 12 spots max. Then reduce the number of times a pitcher can be optioned. Let the market force this driveline max effort crap out of the game.
Because you like seeing the RF coming in to pitch?
Robin Roberts, Bob Gibson, Ferguson Jenkins, Tom Seaver, and others did that before Ryan and Clemens.
CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay just did it like 5 minutes ago in baseball years. Athletes haven’t evolved….the morons running baseball have. It used to be baseball lifers throughout the organizations making baseball decisions, now it’s the bottom of the barrel Ivy leaguers and rich elites relatives and friends. But don’t worry they know what they are doing because they played fantasy baseball and read Moneyball their senior year. And then they all get free billion dollar facilities and unlimited write-offs which trickle down to the players. It’s all a government scam Lolol.
Is Sixto Sanchez a viable option for them this year? Let’s hope he’s over his injury woes if he is an option because the only other team with starting pitching injury problems like this are the Astros and Tampa and maybe Texas.
OH SHIIIT! Sixto Sanchez story again
You gotta believe that this is the year for Max Meyer and Sixto Sanchez to combine on a perfect game. More likely than winning PowerBall if you don’t buy a ticket.
First problem is overhead throwing. Softball never has this problem. The old submarine sidearmers rarely had this problem.
Second problem is too many pitches before puberty. We are creating increased external rotation in the proximal humerus – through the growth plate where 80% of the growth of the humerus occurs. Great for fast ball velocity but creates a problem with less internal rotation possible through follow through. Made worse with opening the front too early. James Andrews had it right. More innings pitched before high school less chance to finish high school playing baseball. The corollary is those that do survive are still more prone to elbow and shoulder injuries later on.
gtb1 – this is exactly the problem. I watched it happen as my son went through youth baseball right up through high school. The coaches are idiots and only want the hardest throwers on the mound regardless of their ability to control the strike zone. My kid had slower velocity but his pitches had natural movement and he could put the ball exactly where he wanted it most of the time. He was never hit hard, mostly inducing weak contact, but the coaches stopped using him solely based on his lack of velocity and our insistence on him not throwing any type of curve until he was older. I wasn’t expecting him to be a star pitcher or anything, but it sure was frustrating seeing him get passed over for the wild power throwers. A bunch of those kids were already having elbow problems before high school…
I knew Giolito would have a blowout at some point because he short arms the ball. Dylan Cease does the same thing, and it’s just not fundamentally sound. But don’t even get me started about what Clevinger does on the mound. There’s literally nothing he does that is fundamentally sound, but I cringe because I know there are kids trying to emulate him. Pitching coaches and managers all down the line turn a blind eye to these things if the results are there. These pitchers need TJS at least once.
As someone who has been around the game for almost 60 years, I believe that a lot has to do with pitchers “throwing ” as opposed to “pitching” and teams being alright with that philosophy. I could see in the near future, the players union asking for 28-30 rosters to carry 15 man staffs, allowing pitchers to just go 1-2 innings and throw with max velocity.
Agreed.
Location – Movement – Velocity was the proper hierarchy to achieve command.
Velocity – Movement – Location is the current hierarchy, and has nothing to do with command.
Pitching is all about command.
We’re not far away from that with an extra roster spot recently added for each team and more teams using openers.
Cancel the 2025 season and have every professional pitcher undergo Tommy John surgery, starting today and lasting through the 2024 season, as they drop, so to speak.
@whyhayzee: What an amazingly dumb post.
Did you come up with that idea yourself?
Baron
Hayzee was not serious … nor was he funny
I stand my ground that it’s a dumb post, serious or not, lol.
This one sucks. He reminds me so much of Felix at his age. Very fun to watch how he commands the mound and isn’t afraid to throw all of his stuff for strikes. Hope he stays healthy cause he has the stuff to be a great one.
That decreased work load last year still didn’t stop it.
What is it with Florida pitchers? Between Tampa and Miami you could field a stud five-man rotation with all of them out with serious elbow/shoulder issues.
Sandy pitched longer and hard
Eury is a young thin guy who pitches really hard
Neither of these surprised me much
High risk, high reward
When will teams learn? Same old thing. Unfortunate.
My 41 mph heater is waiting to be signed. My curveball goes around corners horizontally. I’m working on my blooper, I need a 3rd pitch.
Probably the ‘ol Palm ball. Just make sure you shave it first.
A 35 mph change-up perhaps?
Watch Max Meyer and Sixto come back and them have a nails rotation regardless of this rash f injuries. Weathers is near the tops in strikeouts so far in ST. The Marlins always find a way when it comes to pitching..them and the rays both.
It’s getting ridiculous. Fantasy leagues should just get rid of the pitching side and just focus on batting.
Maybe we can have robo-pitchers too!. For the children
Bauer in Miami during spring break! What could go wrong? He said he’d play for league minimum. Get through injuries and release him if you want.
Ryan Weathers, your new opening day starter for the marlins on line 1.
There’s a thing called Pitching and consist of trying to dominate the offense with pitches that your defense will handle, induce ground balls, handcuff hitters, fool some with changing speed not necesarilly trying to hit 95-100 70% of your pitches. The later has become the main reason for too many too much arm injuries
Bring back the sticky stuff.
Greg Maddux could throw 95mph when he entered the league, but had no idea where it was going. He changed his philosophy and became arguably the greatest pitcher of all-time. He said he’d rather throw with 90-95% effort and know exactly where it was going than throw 95. Perhaps these new age gurus should take note.
Walter Johnson and Satchel Paige, for starters, say hello
I said arguably. However, Paige isn’t in the discussion.
Yankees will still trade for him .
This has got to be the Garret Cooper curse.
I and all Marlins fans that bashed that guy are so sorry we ever bashed him. We hope this hex will be taken off our pitchers.
Marlins need to hire a new conditioning department or something, jeez. At some point you have to admit you seemingly have a problem.
Another victim of the pitch clock. I think that makes 8 and we’re still in Spring training. So let’s shorten it some more, make these guys rush their deliveries more, and eventually we’ll have to use pitching machines because their won’t be a good elbow left.
I’m going to go warm up, just in case.
So much for “managing” his work load last summer…
Nope.
Still a no.
It should be Max time.