An update on Marlins pitcher Eury Perez and the diagnosis after elbow discomfort

Marlins right-handed pitcher Eury Perez, who’s considered one of the most talented young pitchers in baseball and a key piece of the team’s rotation, has been diagnosed with elbow inflammation in his throwing arm, the team announced Friday. He will begin the season on the injured list and is expected to be sidelined multiple weeks.

Surgery has not been recommended at this point. Perez is slated to play catch this weekend next week and the Marlins will see how he responds.

“He’s most likely throwing tomorrow,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said Friday. “That’s obviously a good sign. You’re crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. So far, so good.”

Perez hasn’t thrown in any capacity since March 13, when he was removed from a spring training game after 14 pitches due to discomfort that Perez said came from the fake nail he wore over his broken nail “lifting a little bit.”

But Perez also reported feeling elbow discomfort a day later, was examined by the team and then visited Texas-based surgeon Keith Meister earlier this week. Meister diagnosed Perez with elbow inflammation on Tuesday and recommended a brief shutdown period before he resumes throwing.

“Any time you get news from Dr. Meister that says no surgery,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said, “it’s always a good day.”

Perez, who said he never dealt with an elbow injury before his inflammation, said waiting for results was “uncomfortable” but he is feeling better now and ready to restart his throwing program.

“I had a lot of questions for the doctor,” Perez said, “but he told me to hit the field right away. It’s inflammation. I’ve got to continue working on that to stay healthy and go out there and do as much as I can.”

Two of the Marlins’ other rotation members – lefty Braxton Garrett and righty Edward Cabrera – also are expected to miss the start of the season. Garrett hopes to return early in the season after dealing with shoulder soreness early in camp. Cabrera recently was diagnosed with a shoulder impingement and the timetable for him is undetermined, although he threw his first bullpen session since the diagnosis on Wednesday.

Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara will miss the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last October.

Perez has been dealing with a broken fingernail since his second spring start on March 2. The elbow discomfort was more recent.

Perez made his highly anticipated MLB debut on May 12 at 20 years and 27 days old — making him the youngest pitcher in franchise history to make his Major League debut and the youngest for a Dominican-born starting pitcher all-time — and went on to make 19 starts.

He closed with a 6-5 record and a 3.15 ERA in those 19 games over 91 1/3 innings, striking out 108 batters while walking just 31 and holding opponents to a .214 batting average against.

Through his first 11 starts — before being sent to Double A for a month from early July to early August to manage his workload so that he had innings left for the Marlins’ playoff push — Perez had a 2.36 ERA, which was the lowest for a pitcher 20 years old or younger with at least 50 innings pitched in the Live Ball Era (since 1920).

He was also the youngest player (20 years and 71 days old) since at least 1901 to record three consecutive scoreless outings of six-plus innings. Perez’s season ended on Sept. 23, when the Marlins placed him on the injured list with left SI joint inflammation.

Miami’s rotation to begin the season has been decimated.

Left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo is the Opening Day starter. Fellow lefties A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers and Trevor Rogers will follow Luzardo in the rotation to start the season. With Perez, Garrett and Cabrera unavailable to start the season, the Marlins are considering several internal candidates for the No. 5 rotation spot.

“We are leaning toward a certain way,” Schumaker said about the fifth rotation spot, “but we haven’t let them know yet.”

Added Bendix: “You can never have too much pitching, but I think we’re going to test that. I do feel really good about the arms that we have.”

Veteran Jake Odorizzi, who signed a minor-league contract with Tampa Bay last week, had some level of interest in joining the Marlins, but the Marlins preferred to stick with internal options. He has a career 74-69 record and a 3.99 ERA but didn’t pitch in the big leagues last season.