Pérez's dominant outing signals a surge in potential. Can this young ace elevate the Marlins' rotation and chase a postseason dream?
MIAMI — If the Miami Marlins are going to compete for a spot in the postseason, they need Sandy Alcantara to pitch like their ace, but this also has to be the year Eury Pérez realizes his potential.
“We know how important Eury is to our now and our future,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said on Sunday. “It's a really talented arm.”
Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers was a step in the right direction for Pérez, who struck out seven batters with one walk and one unearned run allowed on three hits in six innings. He outdueled fellow flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski, who had nine strikeouts over five innings.
“I think he was just a little more focused,” Marlins catcher Liam Hicks told Marlins Radio on Sunday. “The fastball command was there, getting it down and away to the righties, down and in to the lefties. It just allowed everything else to work so I think he just stayed on the gas all day.”
The successful outing dropped Pérez’s ERA to 4.15 on the season, which is similar to how he finished the 2025 season over the span of 20 starts (4.25). This year, he’s proving to be at his best at home, posting a 2.50 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 18 innings over three starts at loanDepot park.
Pérez is in his third season in the big leagues and at 23-years old, is the only the second youngest starting pitcher in the Majors this season. We all saw what he’s capable of when he posted a 3.15 ERA in 19 starts as a 20-year-old rookie in 2023.
“I think we also have to caution ourselves that this is still very much a maturing Major League pitcher,” McCullough said.
Pérez is the Sith apprentice of Sandy Alcantara. These two have been so close that after making the playoffs in 2023, they both missed 2024 to injury and worked together to get healthy back into form.
Pérez said during his postgame press conference that he received sage advice from Alcantara leading up to his start on Sunday, and it paid off.
“They told me that I'm one of the best pitchers in the league,” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I have to trust my stuff, and then just continue to develop those things and just trust myself and do a good job with that.”
Pérez had some rough starts between his first and most recent outing. Through his stretch, he gave up nine earned runs, 15 hits, and 10 walks through 13 innings.
“Sometimes that type of adversity is a good thing,” McCullough said. “Every experience that Eury is coming across are all good for him moving forward.”
Far too many Marlins pitchers have been gluttons for adversity recently. During the seven-game stretch in which the Marlins lost six games including four straight, the Miami starting rotation had combined for a 5.93 ERA.
“All these guys, there's a lot of pride when you don't perform well to just keep getting back to work and trust that that work is going to pay off for you,” McCullough said.
The Marlins will go into a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals with Max Meyer on Monday, Chris Paddack on Tuesday, and Janson Junk on Wednesday.
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