Opening Day’s breathing down our necks, and the excitement’s starting to build. Soon enough, fans will have baseball on tap every single day for six months straight.
This season’s setting up to be a good one. Could get pretty competitive considering what teams pulled off this winter, plus all the rookies who’ve earned Opening Day spots and players finally healthy after missing time last year.
Sure, everyone’s watching Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, but there’s a handful of breakout candidates worth getting to know now.
Eury Perez tops that list.
The Marlins have been excited about Perez for a while now. The former top-10 prospect returned from Tommy John surgery last June and reminded everyone why he was so highly regarded in the first place.
Now he’s coming into the season fully healthy and looking to take that next step. The Athletic’s Keith Law has him pegged as a breakout candidate, and it’s not hard to see why.
“Perez came back last June from Tommy John surgery, which cost him all of the 2024 season. He returned with his stuff intact, if not slightly better than when we last saw him on the mound, but his fastball command wasn’t back yet, which is typical for guys in their first year back from UCL replacements.”
The numbers from last year tell the story. Perez made 20 starts, went 7-6 with a 4.25 ERA and struck out 105 batters across 95.1 innings. That’s solid production, especially for someone working back from major elbow surgery.
What held him back was exactly what Law mentioned – fastball command. It’s the classic challenge for pitchers in their first year back from Tommy John. The stuff’s there, but the precision takes time to return.
That’s where this season gets interesting. Perez should have much better control of his fastball now that he’s further removed from surgery. With that improved command, he’s positioned to become Miami’s clear No. 2 starter and potentially break out in a big way.
The Marlins rotation could use that kind of step forward from Perez. They’ve got the talent to surprise some people this year, and a healthy, commanding version of their former top prospect would go a long way toward making that happen.
