Martín

Pérez

Fuentes struck out seven, but he also gave up seven hits, one being a three-run homer off the bat of Daylen Lile. The short start meant Martín Pérez, who could have started Thursday, was needed to pitch three innings behind him, and thus, both pitchers might lose their roster spots tomorrow with JR Ritchie and Carlos Carrasco coming up.

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman confirms that Ritchie will be called up with Didier Fuentes heading back to the minors after needing 74 pitches to complete three frames during Wednesday’s win over the Nationals. His abbreviated outing forced veteran Martín Pérez, who was originally scheduled to start on Thursday, into duty for a long relief outing. The 22-year-old top pitching prospect has posted a sparkling 0.99 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 28/13 K/BB ratio across 27 1/3 innings over five starts for Triple-A Gwinnett this season. There’s some streaming appeal for fantasy purposes, but this figures to be a one-and-done situation for Ritchie.

For all of the joking about the Braves immediately bringing Pérez back after he was designated for assignment and then elected free agency when he passed through waivers, he held a quality scoreless here. It was a classic Pérez outing too, trying to mix speeds and live on the edges. Then getting very fortunate on tons of hard-hit balls put in play to keep putting zeroes on the board. Nevertheless, he got the job done and is scheduled to face the Nationals next time out if he gets another turn in the rotation.

The DFA -> elect free agency -> sign a minor-league contract -> get called up cycle took Pérez exactly five days. He’ll get the ball on Friday against the Phillies. It’s not a great spot for fantasy managers, but we’re very proud of Pérez for speedrunning the veteran live arm free agency experience.

Fantasy managers hoping to see top prospects Didier Fuentes or JR Ritchie will have to wait a bit longer. Pérez re-signed with Atlanta after being jettisoned from the club’s active roster earlier this week and electing free agency. The 35-year-old southpaw can be safely ignored in all fantasy leagues.

Pérez was designated for assignment by the Braves last week and passed through waivers unclaimed. He elected free agency but then resigned with Atlanta. While this may not seem like a big deal, it does mean that Pérez could be the starting pitcher called up when the Braves need a fifth starter again on April 21st. That would mean that Didier Fuentes and JR Ritchie could remain in the minors for longer than fantasy managers are hoping.

No surprise here. Pérez went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment over the weekend. He could wind up back with Atlanta on a new deal, but he’ll head to the open market for now. The 35-year-old southpaw’s path to starts with the Braves is pretty much nonexistent with Spencer Strider (oblique) only a couple weeks away and top prospect Didier Fuentes just about ready to ascend to the big leagues.

It comes after Pérez pitched five innings of one-run baseball against to the Guardians, but it took a good amount of luck for those results to take place. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss told reporters he’s not sure who will take Pérez’s spot in the rotation, but there are two intriguing prospects in JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes who could get the nod. Either would be worthy of fantasy consideration.

It was a much more effective second outing for Pérez than his first (5 IP, 4 ER), but it ends with a loss because Atlanta could not solve Parker Messick and the Cleveland bullpen. The 35-year-old walked three, struck out two and allowed just a pair of hits. Unfortunately, one of those hits left the park, so it’s a hard-luck loss. Pérez shouldn’t be in fantasy lineups for his scheduled matchup against the Phillies on Sunday.

It was Pérez’s first start for Atlanta, and it went about as well — or mediocre — as you’d expect. The 35-year-old stuck out just one hitter while allowing four hits and a walk. Pretty typical. Pérez doesn’t have another scheduled start, but could get another chance to pitch over the weekend depending on how depleted the staff is.