Martin Perez played his first seven season with the Texas Rangers. He was a good pitcher that Texas thought could be better.
He had a career ERA with the Rangers of 4.42. That is not awful, but not All-Star worthy either.
He left Texas in 2019, and played for the Twins and Red Sox. He post ERA’s over four those three seasons as well.
Fast forward to 2022. Martin Perez not only has a sub 4 ERA, he has an ERA of 1.60. His WAR (Wins Against Replacement) is 2.1, and his RAR (Runs Against Replacement) is 21.
Perez has been the Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson of 2022. Something we had hoped Jon Gray would be when the Rangers signed him to a four year deal.
While he pitched well in Boston and Minnesota, he obviously likes pitching in Texas.
There has been no doubt that he has been the Texas Rangers best pitcher through the first two months of the season. Absolutely no doubt.
His batting average against is .209. He has yet to give up a home run.
I understand why he was not a so called sexy signing, but he has turned out to be the best signing so far out of everyone. He will not be by the end of the Corey Seager and Marcus Semien contracts, but he is right now for sure.
So will it last the entire season? Can Martin Perez win the Cy Young Award? The fact that the Texas Rangers are not going to be competitive means no.
I will admit it is nice to see Perez playing like he is, and he is worth tuning in for every fifth day right now. We should all enjoy it while it lasts.
