Eury Perez looks to continue stellar July as Marlins host Padres
Take, for example, Miami Marlins right-hander Eury Perez, who is set to start on Monday night against the visiting San Diego Padres.
The 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has made an amazing recovery from Tommy John surgery, posting a 3-2 record with a 3.18 ERA this year.
In three July starts, Perez is 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA, meaning he is getting better as the season progresses.
Meanwhile, Perez's teammate and fellow Dominican, Sandy Alcantara, has struggled after his elbow surgery. The 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner is 4-9 with a 7.14 ERA this year.
Perez had his surgery in April of 2024 and he was activated this year on June 9. That's a 14-month recovery.
Alcantara, 29, had his surgery in October of 2023 and returned to the mound this year on March 27. That's a 17-month recovery.
So, despite having a recovery time that is three months shorter than that of Alcantara, Perez is having far and away the better results of the two.
But that hasn't stopped Alcantara from mentoring Perez, who has never faced the Padres.
As for the Marlins overall, they are 21-11 over their past 32 games following Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Royals that snapped Miami's four-game win streak.
"Trying to win series," Marlins rookie manager Clayton McCullough said of the Marlins' mindset on Sunday. "That's what we're going to continue to focus on ... and not get too far ahead of ourselves."
On the other side on Monday will be the Padres, who have won three straight three-game series. They also split a four-game series during that span.
On Sunday, the Padres routed the host Washington Nationals 8-1 as Xander Bogaerts hit a first-inning grand slam.
San Diego's Manny Machado also hit a grand slam in Friday's 7-2 win over Washington.
"We could be 'Slam Diego' again," Padres manager Mike Shildt joked, referring to the nickname given to the team after they hit a grand slam in a record four straight games in 2020. "I'm fine with it."
The Padres, who would be an NL wild-card playoff team if the season ended on Sunday, are expected to pitch right-hander Randy Vasquez (3-4, 3.80 ERA) to open their series in Miami.
Vasquez, a 26-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two career games (one start) against the Marlins.
He made his major league debut in 2023 with the New York Yankees and was part of the December 2023 trade that sent Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from San Diego to New York. He is 9-13 with a 4.10 ERA in 50 appearances (44 starts) in his career.
As for San Diego's key players on offense this year, two of them have ties to Miami.
Machado, who has 18 homers, 60 RBIs and an .843 OPS in 99 games this year, is a Miami native. And reigning three-time batting champion Luis Arraez won the second of those titles while playing for the Marlins. He also began 2024 in Miami before a May trade to San Diego. So far this season, however, he is hitting just .284, 34 points below his career average.
--Field Level Media
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