Despite a rough 2025, trades elevate Eury Perez's role, demanding a breakout from the young ace to justify the Marlins' risky rotation shake-up.
In 2023, when he was 20 years old, Eury Perez contributed to the Miami Marlins making it to the postseason for just the second time in the previous 21 seasons.
The then-rookie right-hander started 19 games for the Marlins, ending with a 3.15 ERA.
Then Perez missed the entire 2024 season and the first two months of 2025 to Tommy John surgery.
On the surface, Perez struggled a bit last season, with his ERA increasing to 4.25. But his Fielding Independent Pitching -- which measures what a pitcher's ERA would be if defense weren't a factor -- was 3.67, down from 4.11 in 2023.
Perez won't be 23 until after Opening Day, and for the Marlins to fully justify trading two of their starting pitchers, he must deliver.
That's why he's the latest subject of "Getting to Know the Fish," a Marlins Roundtable series profiling each Miami player.
Height: 6-foot-8
Weight: 220 pounds
Hometown: Santiago, Dominican Republic
Years in the Majors: 4
Years with the Marlins: 4
Last Year: Perez's monthly splits for 2025 don't look great:
• June: 6.19 ERA
• July: 1.29
• August: 5.60
• September: 4.88
But pay attention to July, when Perez gave up just four earned runs over 28 innings.
He was particularly dominant against the Minnesota Twins on July 3 (6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 7 K) and the Baltimore Orioles on July 13 (7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K). Perez showed what he could do in July, and if he's able to be consistent in 2026, the Marlins could be looking at a star.
Where He Stands: With the team trading Edward Cabrera to the Chicago Cubs and Ryan Weathers to the New York Yankees, Perez is the team's clear-cut No. 2 starter behind Sandy Alcantara. With that comes added pressure. The Marlins wouldn't have traded two of their five projected starters if they didn't have confidence in the depth of their rotation. The trades put Cabrera and top prospects Thomas White (No. 22 overall, per MLB.com) and Robby Snelling (No. 51) under a microscope.
All three of these starters are young and talented, and Perez has a big-league track record. But if they don't perform well, people will start to wonder if Marlins president Peter Bendix and Co. were overconfident in trading Cabrera and Weathers.
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