MIAMI — Manager Skip Schumacher would use two words to describe the start of Yuri Perez’s career: “Pretty unbelievable.”
By Monday morning, the Marlins’ no. 1 chance degree MLB Pipeline Prospect Rankings, has spent enough time in the majors that he is no longer eligible. But on Sunday afternoon at LoanDepot Park, the Dominican not only continued to show why he holds that coveted No. 1 spot, he also set some notable milestones.
The 20-year-old phenom’s six scoreless innings 2-0 win Marlins on the Pirates is a fresh example of his poise and dominance, as well as his devilish arsenal. Perez matched his career high for strikeouts (nine) in his previous outing while extending his scoreless streak to 21 innings, currently the longest in the majors.
“I take the little things for granted [de] All the boys,” Perez said through his translator, Luis Torrente Jr. “You know, the production they make every day. You should learn from your peers. I’m not feeling 100 percent today. Maybe I’m a bit late to the bull race. But yes, you have to be prepared, have a routine and stick to it.”
At 20 years, 71 days, Perez became the youngest pitcher since at least 1901 to complete three straight starts with six or more scoreless innings. Additionally, he is only the third Latin American-born pitcher with three 6-or-IP shutout starts, regardless of age, with six or more strikeouts and one or fewer walks. The other two are Hall of Famer and fellow Dominican Pedro Martinez (four in a row at age 30 in 2002) and Venezuelan Johan Santana (four in a row at age 25 in 2004).
However, he doesn’t focus on the numbers he gets or the records he breaks.
“I’m just focused on hanging out with all my teammates,” Perez said. “Go to the field to compete. Play well, play well. I knew I was doing a good job, but nothing more.
Perez began the season at Double-A Pensacola and made six starts before the Marlins called him up to fill Trevor Rogers’ spot (left biceps strain) in the starting rotation. Miami returned to Brian Hoying for two starts, then Perez exited with one bullpen game before opting to skip Triple-A Jacksonville.
“You hear about these big opportunities coming up all the time,” Schumacher said. “Usually, it takes a while to get to the major league level. He had to face a good line-up. And it’s laundry after laundry. And he’s not just going four and five innings, now going into the sixth. If I had a higher pitch range, I could certainly continue.”
Since May 12, Perez has stunned the baseball world with a 1.34 ERA, the most since Steve Rogers’ 1.20 ERA in 1973 when Perez allowed just one run in a major leaguer’s first nine starts (at least 40 innings). Last six games (33 innings), six games since 1901 (minimum 30 innings) in which a pitcher has allowed 20 or fewer runs.
One of the reasons Perez stands out is because he can be calm and collected on the mound. He showed that ability in the second inning Sunday when the Pirates had runners in scoring position and one out. The right-hander settled down and dismissed two to end the innings. The pitch he finished with in the second of those guillotines, a four-seamer that landed in the bottom of the zone, was clocked at 99.9 mph. Perez’s four-seam fastball averages 97.5 mph, 3 mph above the league average (94.1 mph).
“We were lucky to see what was happening,” Schumacher continued. “And I’ve never seen anything like that from a pitcher. Some position players come out on fire. You know, the Fernando Tadis Jr. of the world and [Yasiel Puig] In 2013 when I was [con los Dodgers], but at that age, I’ve never seen a pitcher do it at this level. It’s very interesting”.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. Never. I faced Clayton Kershaw when he came in. I was the hitter he faced in his first at-bat at age 20, and he dominated. But I don’t think he’s had a sticker like that. It’s crazy. I don’t see it going the other way. .”
Perez doesn’t believe this will change either.
“It was a lot of fun, winning is fun,” Perez admitted. “So we need to keep winning more games. Our next step is the playoffs. That will be the next step. I want to stay healthy to continue to compete with my teammates and win more games.”
