Martín Pérez

Martin Perez Jimenez

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut June 27, 2012

• Born April 4, 1991 in Guanare, Portuguesa, Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Pitcher Martin Perez reached the majors with the Texas Rangers in 2012.

Signed by scouts Rafic Saab and Don Welke for the Rangers in 2007, he made his pro debut the next summer with the Spokane Indians. The youngest player in the Northwest League at age 17, he went 1-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 15 starts. He began 2009 with the Hickory Crawdads, going 5-5 with a 2.31 ERA in 22 outings for the club before being promoted to the AA Frisco RoughRiders for the final month of the season. Back with Frisco in 2010, he was 5-8 with a 5.96 ERA in 24 games despite two stints on the disabled list.

Perez began 2011 back with the RoughRiders and threw a 6-inning, rain-shortened perfect game on April 19th against the Arkansas Travelers. Overall, he was 4-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 17 appearances for Frisco, and he was the winning pitcher in the Texas League All-Star Game. After also appearing in the 2011 Futures Game, he moved up to the AAA Round Rock Express, going 4-4 with a 6.43 ERA in 10 starts. He went 5-5 with a 4.59 ERA in 15 starts for the Express to start 2012 before being called up to the majors by Texas in late June. He made his big league debut on June 27th against the Detroit Tigers, allowing an earned run in two-thirds of an inning of relief work. He made 12 appearances, 6 of them starts, for the Rangers, going 1-4, 5.45, and pitching 38 innings in the big leagues.

Perez suffered a broken forearm in spring training in 2013­, when he was hit on the wrist by a line drive off the bat of Brad Miller of the Seattle Mariners on March 3rd; he was in line to win the Rangers' fifth starter job before the injury, but instead was put on the shelf for two months. He joined the Rangers for a one-off start in a doubleheader on May 27th, losing, 5-3, to the Arizona Diamondbacks, then returned for good at the end of June. On August 11th, he recorded the first complete game of his career in a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros; he was in fact one strike away from a shutout, but Chris Carter hit a solo homer, for only the fourth Astros hit of the day. He was named the American League Rookie of the Month for August, finishing the month with a record of 5-0 and a 3.06 ERA in 35 1/3 innings. He went into double figures for wins on September 25th when he defeated the Astros, 7-3, with the Rangers trying desperately to hang on in the AL wild card race. He finished the year at 10-6, 3.62 in 20 starts, pitching 124 1/3 innings.

The Rangers rewarded Martin for his break-out season by offering him a four-year contract for $12.5 million before the 2014 season. He gave some ammunition to those who claimed that in spite of its size, the contract was below market value, by starting the year on all cylinders. He had a 26-inning scoreless streak over four starts in April and won his first four decisions of the year before suffering his first loss and snapping the streak on April 29th in a 9-3 loss to the Oakland A's. His record had stood at 4-0, 1.42 heading into that game. However, things went downhill quickly from that point as he lost his next two starts, being hit hard both times, to move his record to 4-3, 4.38. He was placed on the disabled list on May 14th with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, with Tommy John surgery on the horizon.

Perez's recovery from the surgery went as planned, and he was back with the team in time to make the Rangers' first start following the All-Star break on July 17, 2015. He had a tremendous game to claim his first win of the year on August 2nd as he allowed only 2 hits in 8 1/3 innings, in defeating the San Francisco Giants, 2-1. He had a one-hitter entering the 9th inning before a one-out double by Angel Pagan caused him to give way to Sam Dyson, who then earned his first career save.

On June 24, 2017, he joined the list of players having been sidelined by an unusual injury when he was placed on the disabled list with a thumb injury which was the result of accidentally jamming the finger in a door at the team's hotel. He was 4-6, 4.70 at the time, then after missing a few games, came back in early July. A four-game losing streak in late July almost torpedoed his season, as he was 5-10, 5.46 after an 8-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on August 4th. But he began a remarkable turnaround beginning with his next start. On September 8th, he defeated the New York Yankees, 11-5, for his seventh straight winning start, one short of the team record. He finished at 13-12, 4.82, leading the team in wins and also in starts (32).

Following the 2017 season, he broke his non-pitching elbow in an incident with a bull. He was working on his ranch in Venezuela when he was startled by the animal and fell on his elbow. The injury was expected to keep him out of action until April, delaying the start of his 2018 season. He made his spring training debut on March 18th and explained that he had gotten revenge on the animal by having it slaughtered and eating it. "It was good meat," he explained. He appeared in 22 games that season, including 15 starts and pitching 85 1/3 innings for an uncompetitive Rangers team. He finished the year at 2-7, 6.22 and was allowed to leave via free agency following the season. On January 30, 2019, he signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins to re-establish his value, and it worked fairly well as he went 10-7 in 32 games for a team that won 101 games. He made 29 starts, logged 165 1/3 innings and struck out 135 batters, but also allowed a lot of circulation, with 184 hits and 67 walks; he was not used in the postseason. Still, he found much more interest in his services this time, as the Boston Red Sox inked him on December 19th to a two-year deal that could reach $14.5 million if they exercise an option. Like the Twins, the Red Sox wanted a pitcher who could give them a lot of innings from the back of the starting rotation, allowing the offense to do its work to win games.

Overall with the Red Sox in 2020, Pérez appeared in 12 games (all starts), compiling a 3–5 record with 4.50 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched. He finished last in the AL in walks per nine innings pitched, with 4.1, and in strikeout-to-walk ratio, at 1.64. On November 1st, the Red Sox declined to exercise their $6.85 million option for the 2021 season, paying him a $500,000 buyout and making him a free agent.

In spite of the buy-out, on February 12, 2021, Pérez officially re-signed with the Red Sox on a one-year, $4.5 million contract. On February 17th, MLB.com mistakenly announced that Perez would be switching his uniform number to 33, which had not been issued by the Red Sox since Jason Varitek's retirement in 2012. The announcement sparked controversy and Varitek's wife expressed anger on Twitter. Perez immediately stated that this was an error and that he had never intended to change numbers, also expressing respect for Varitek. He went 7-8, 4.74 in 36 games for the Red Sox, including 22 starts. He was relegated to the end of the bullpen in the postseason and did not appear until the ALCS against the Houston Astros, when he gave up 5 runs in 3 innings in 3 relief appearances.

He returned to the Rangers as a free agent in 2022 and given their lack of reliable starting pitchers, he had no difficulty claiming a regular job in the starting rotation. He had a tremendous month in May and was named the American League Pitcher of the Month when he went 4-0, 0.64 in 6 starts, pitching a shutout and allowing only 29 hits in 42 1/3 innings. He was then named to the All-Star team for the first time and finished at 12-8, 2.89 in 32 games. He pitched 196 1/3 innings, just two off his career high, and his 169 strikeouts were easily a new mark for him. He was also one of a number of pitchers to tie for the major league lead with his one shutout.

He struggled in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, allowing nine hits and four runs in 3 2/3 IP for Venezuela. Only Adam Wainwright allowed more hits in the event. In 2023, after the Rangers signed a number of free agent pitchers, most prominently Jacob deGrom, he fell back in the team's mound hierarchy, making 20 starts in 35 appearances. He finished at 10-4, 4.45 in 141 2/3 innings, but the Rangers made the postseason, being a much improved team. He was used as a long reliever in the postseason, making two appearances in the ALCS against the Houston Astros and one in the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even though he gave up 4 runs in 1 1/3 innings in his sole World Series outing, he still earned a ring when Texas defeated Arizona in five games.

Pérez became a free agent following the 2023 season and on December 18th signed a one-year deal for $8 million with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

A singer, he has sung the national anthem before a MLB game.

Notable Achievements

• AL All-Star (2022)
• AL Shutouts Leader (2022)
• Won one World Series with the Texas Rangers in 2023

Further Reading

• Jake Crouse: "Pirates reach deal with veteran lefty Pérez", mlb.com, December 18, 2023. [1]
• Dylan Svoboda: "Meet this year’s late-blooming ASG candidate: Here’s how Rangers’ Pérez has blossomed at age 31", mlb.com, June 26, 2022. [2]

Related Sites

• Martin Perez on mlb.com