Budding Marlins Superstar to Have Tommy John Surgery
The Miami Marlins have announced that starting pitcher Eury Pérez will require Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2024 season.
Pérez, only 20, has not pitched since being shut down during spring training with a broken fingernail and elbow soreness.
Called the "Baby Goat", Pérez was one of the best young pitchers in baseball last season. Debuting in May, less than a month after his 20th birthday, Pérez started nineteen games and went 5-6 with a 3.15 ERA.
The Marlins tried to limit the youngster's innings last season, giving him an additional day of rest in ten of his starts and even sending him down to AAA Jacksonville around the All-Star Break to prevent him from being overused at the major league level, resulting in only 91.1 innings on the season for the youngster.
But the preventive measures didn't work - Pérez initally complained of elbow soreness in spring and, after clean imaging by both the team and noted surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, began playing catch a few days later. But after more elbow discomfort last week during a bullpen prompted a second visit to Meister, where the decision was made for Tommy John for the young pitcher.
Said general manager Peter Bendix, “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster. Initially having the frustration of the elbow soreness and followed by the positive outlook on you don’t need surgery right now. There was an understanding that the ligament was not in great shape and essentially, you can pitch with it until you can’t, and nobody knows when that’s going to be. You have to try and see when the symptoms return. And unfortunately, that happened now. Better now than in the middle of the season.”
And that last part - better now than in the middle of the season - is what's important here. As the rehab process for Tommy John surgery typically takes between fourteen and sixteen months, having the surgery on Monday means that the door is still technically open for Përez to make some appearances late in 2025, allowing him a standard offseason of preparation for the 2026 season.
This timing is in sharp contrast to how the Philadelphia Phillies handled phelow phenom Andrew Painter's elbow injury and eventual Tommy John surgery last season. Diagnosed with a partially torn UCL late in early March, the organization attempted to rest and rehab it before finally having Painter undergo the procedure in late July, knocking him out for the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Managing Editor for Blackerby Media, covering the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins Also: Senior Baseball Writer for Auburn Daily, member of both the National College Baseball Writers Association and Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (where he won the 2023 Prospects, Minors, & College Writer of the Year award)