Eury Pérez Injury Exposes Major Marlins Rotation Concern

Nearly unbelievably, Eury Perez injured himself stretching in the dugout. Now the Marlins are left to find their way with a struggling rotation.

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Perez | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Eury Perez was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right gracilis strain. Unfortunately, that injury comes with an eight-week recovery, which will put his return sometime around late July if everything goes well.

The Marlins are currently 26-31 and 12 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The timing of this loss couldn’t be worse.

What also couldn’t be worse is the way it happened. Pérez sustained the gracilis strain (which is a muscle in the inner thigh involved in hip rotation and leg drive) during stretching between innings in the dugout.

Pérez was in the midst of his best start of the season when the injury happened. He had thrown four innings, zero earned runs, nine strikeouts.

Josh Ekness was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville to fill his roster spot.

We’ve made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/HP5cZEauyt

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) May 29, 2026

A Season of Ups and Downs for Pérez

Pérez lands on the IL with a 3-6 record and a 4.60 ERA across 12 starts and 62.2 innings of work. He recorded 72 strikeouts against 31 walks.

Pérez is just 23 years old, and while his stats show a bit of a mixed bag, the upside for him and his ability has not wavered. There’s no question, the right-hander can get strikes. His walks can get out of hand at times, but overall, he manages the damage.

Adding insult to injury for the young pitcher, this is not his first extended time period on the IL. He missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. When he returned in 2025 he managed to make 20 starts with a record of 7-6. He posted a 4.25 ERA and 105 strikeouts across a total of 95.1 innings. It was a respectable comeback.

Heading into 2026, Pérez was expected to anchor the rotation and be the future. Of course, this recent injury doesn’t change that and certainly is not career-ending, but durability will start to be questioned.

Rotation Already in Crisis

Pérez’s absence is going to be noticed nearly immediately. The Marlins’rotation was just barely holding on before this news. Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur and Ronny Henriquez are all already living on IL due to Tommy John surgeries.

The rotation had been heavily relying on Max Meyer, who has been performing this season. He holds a 5-0 record with a 2.97 ERA with 74 strikeouts across 11 starts. Meyer has been one of the best pitchers in the NL so far this year, but behind him, things get thin fast.

Sandy Alcantara is 3-4 with a 4.66 ERA on the year and hasn’t really found his form yet in 2026. Janson Junk has a record of 3-5 with a 4.80 ERA. Tyler Phillips stats look amazing until you notice he only has one start.

The Playoff Picture Without Pérez

The Marlins are well within striking distance if they can somehow hold on to some wins. They are currently 26-31 on the season and nowhere near mathematically out of the race.

They are 13 games back of the Atlanta Braves, but the second place Philadelphia Philles are nine games back, so the race for second and hopefully a wildcard spot is really still anyone’s game.

The rotation will now heavily lean on Meyer to carry the load and those who follow him struggling, this will be a team that is going to struggle to win consistently over the next two months.

The Marlins are going to have to find a diamond in the rough to promote or explore the trade market to fill the large void Pérez is going to leave behind.