Martín Pérez Making Most of Opportunities with Braves as They Come

His appearance on Tuesday night officially started off year 15 in the majors for Martín Pérez. He came out of the bullpen and pitched the final 4 1/3 innings of the Atlanta Braves' 5-2 loss to the Athletics.

Pérez held A's bats scoreless while allowing two hits and no walks while striking out three.

"It's good," he said after the game on Tuesday. "I'm healthy. I don't feel any pain at all and then, you know, it's good when you go out there and you compete for your team and then you feel good."

He started the season down in Triple-A with Gwinnett, but he quickly found himself back up with the Braves when they needed another option to eat innings. It didn't matter to him if he got the ball to start or if he came out later. It's out of his control. He's here to seize the opportunities as they come.

"We had a couple guys down tonight and weren't to pitch," manager Walt Weiss said. "So, we were limited out there, and Martín was just what the doctor ordered."

The Braves only needed three pitchers to navigate a losing effort. Jose Suarez took the mound to start and gave the team just 3 2/3 innings before he was run out. After Joel Payamps covered an inning, Pérez's time came.

There was an extra level of satisfaction that came with his season debut. Pérez said this is the healthiest he has been in about two seasons. He appeared in just 11 games last season and pitched a total of 56 innings due to injuries. First, it was elbow inflammation. Then, it was a flexor strain. To cap it off, he had a shoulder strain.

Those injuries led to him settling for a minor league contract over the offseason, but even from the start, the Braves had an eye on him for a veteran option with the staff. He just had to show he can be healthy. So far, he's putting that tough chapter behind him.

"I'm ready, man," Pérez said. "I'm healthy. I don't have to think about how I'm going to feel tomorrow. I'm going to wake up tomorrow. I'm going to feel great, and that's, you know, that's a bigger thing for me. You know, just come here, and at any moment, they call my name. I just want to be ready and try to put some zeros out there and try to do a lot of it."

For now, Weiss said the plan is to roll with either Suarez or Pérez as the options for the next time through the rotation on Sunday, when they're out in Arizona playing the Diamondbacks. A third option could come about, but that's to be determined. It's all situational and how they utilize the pitching staff between now and then.