MIAMI -- Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez was reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start Wednesday afternoon's series finale against Jacob deGrom and the Rangers at loanDepot park.
Pérez, who strained his right gracilis in his inner thigh while warming up between innings of his May 27 start in Toronto, beat the original recovery timeline of eight weeks. A few days after the injury, he was already back in a long toss program and his velocity in a pitch design session provided proof of arm health and strength. Pérez made just one rehab start, tossing 3 2/3 innings on 51 pitches for Triple-A Jacksonville on Thursday.
"At first, you're never sure," manager Clayton McCullough said on Tuesday. "The potential range of time that he could be down was fairly wide, and [it was] a unique place where he got injured, and I think that he responded very well to the initial rounds of treatment early on, and it gave us some encouragement."
At the time of the injury, Pérez appeared to be turning a corner during his first full season removed from April 2024 elbow surgery. Though his season ERA (4.60) is high, he had limited the Mets to one run on two hits across 6 1/3 innings on May 22, then held the Blue Jays scoreless through four frames on May 27. Pérez recorded his first five outs via the K and threw the second-fastest pitch of his career (101 mph four-seamer) in that abbreviated outing.
Pérez's return stabilizes a rotation that has heavily relied on Sandy Alcantara and Max Meyer during his absence, which also overlapped with righty Janson Junk (shin) being sidelined. Miami has used a combination of bullpen games and righty Ryan Gusto in a bulk and/or starting capacity to cover those two rotation spots. Even with those injuries, the Marlins have raced to an MLB-best 15-5 record in June and can secure their sixth series victory this month on Wednesday.
While McCullough wouldn't reveal details of Pérez's potential workload in his return, he did say that Pérez could go further than he did with Jacksonville but less than what he had been doing for Miami.
"As he continued to up the intensity, he got on the mound, he looked great, he felt great, and the rehab start he had in Jacksonville went very well," McCullough said. "He threw the ball well, he felt great. [We] felt like there's no reason for us to feel like we need to have another rehab assignment. He's healthy enough, and he's in a good place to start tomorrow."