Marlins Place Perez on IL, Send Down Pauley in Roster Shakeup

The Miami Marlins placed Eury Pérez on the 15-Day Injured List (retro to May 28) with a right gracilis strain. 

The expected timeline is 8 weeks, which would push his return past the MLB trade deadline at the end of July. 

Pérez was in the middle of one of his best starts of the season on Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays. He struck out nine batters in four scoreless innings before he felt a tightness in his leg in the dugout that required the assistance of fellow pitcher Sandy Alcantara to get into the clubhouse. 

“I would say on a scale from 1-10, I would give a 10,” Pérez said Wednesday through Marlins interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “It was very painful.”

Pérez enters the Injured List with a 3-6 record with a 4.60 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 62.2 innings this season. Josh Ekness has been called back up to fortify the bullpen with Tyler Phillips moving into the starting rotation. In his first six appearances as a Major Leaguer, Ekness allowed only one run and two hits with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings. 

Phillips went from the bullpen to the mound (literally) to start Sunday’s game against the New York Mets. He started a bullpen day with 3.2 innings of shutout baseball and four strikeouts. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said after that game that they plan to start Phillips again on Saturday with a more innings in mind. 

As far as Pérez’s spot in the rotation, the Marlins won’t need to fill it until Tuesday, June 2, against the Washington Nationals. They may have to give Braxton Garrett another shot to find himself in the big leagues. 

Garrett has a 2.55 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 35.1 innings during seven starts at Triple-A Jacksonville. However, in two starts with the Marlins, he totaled 4.1 innings on the mound. 

The Marlins also reinstated Leo Jiménez from the seven-day concussion list. In limited time with the Marlins, the 25-year-old infielder is batting .227 with one RBI in 44 at-bats. 

In a corresponding move, the Marlins sent Graham Pauley back to Triple-A Jacksonville. The Marlins called him up on May 21, but in his last seven games, he went 1-for-15 with three strikeouts and a walk. Overall, Pauley is batting .165 with one home run and nine RBI in 85 at-bats this season. 

The Marlins also signed pitcher Amos Willingham to a minor league contract on Friday and assigned him to Triple-A Jacksonville. Willingham, who the Nationals drafted in the 17th round in 2019, made 19 appearances in the big leagues with a 7.11 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts in 25.1 innings with Washington through 2023-24. He was recently released from the Houston Astros’ Triple-A affiliate before being picked up by Miami. 

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