Marlins Place Eury Perez on Injured List With Gracilis Strain

Leading up to their three-game road series against the New York Mets, 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 eight weeks, which pushes his return past the MLB trade deadline at the end of July. 

Pérez was in the middle of one his best starts of the season on Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays. He struck out nine batters in four scoreless innings before leaving the game due to injury. 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. 

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 start the series with Max Meyer on the mound on Friday. Tyler Phillips will continue his experiment as a starting pitcher on Saturday with a more stretched out outing in mind. Janson Junk will close the series on Sunday looking to build on his success in Toronto earlier in the week.