Miami Marlins Rookie Eury Perez Does Something Not Done in 50 Years in Major League Debut

Miami Marlins rookie pitcher Eury Perez impressed in his major league debut on Friday. The 20-year-old rookie went 4.2 innings and struck out seven, while giving up two earned runs. He became the youngest player to have 7+ strikeouts in a debut since 1973.

Miami Marlins rookie pitcher Eury Perez didn't go deep enough into the game to get a win in his major league debut, but that doesn't mean that he didn't impress against the Cincinnati Reds.

The 20-year-old flamethrower went 4.2 innings, allowing four hits, two runs and two walks. He also recorded seven strikeouts while throwing 88 pitches (58 strikes).

With those seven strikeouts, Perez did something that hadn't been done in baseball in 50 years.

Per ESPN Stats & Info:

Eury Perez is the youngest player (20 years, 27 days) with 7+ K in his MLB debut since David Clyde had 8 K in 1973 (18 years, 66 days)

Eury Perez is the youngest player (20 years, 27 days) with 7+ K in his MLB debut since David Clyde had 8 K in 1973 (18 years, 66 days) pic.twitter.com/VSbd0a906s

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 13, 2023

Perez is the top prospect in the Marlins organization and is ranked No. 10 in baseball right now. We've written a lot about him this week, starting with his cool call-up video, to his first major league strikeout.

Tyler Stephenson, who was that first strikeout victim, also hit the first home run off Perez. Jake Fraley followed with a home run in the fifth inning.

At the time of this posting, the two teams are tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth.

For more on Perez, here's a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Pérez's combination of size, stuff and polish is tough to top, starting with a fastball that parks at 94-97 mph and peaks at 100 and plays even better than its velocity thanks to its shape, running action and induced vertical break. His deceptive upper-80s changeup is just as nasty, generating an outstanding 61 percent swing-and-miss rate in 2022 thanks to its fade and tumble. After featuring an upper-70s curveball in the past, he added a tighter mid-80s slider last season that grades as plus more consistently than his bender.

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