Rangers Ace Martin Pérez Named AL Pitcher of Month
Texas Rangers left-hander Martin Pérez was named on Friday the American League Pitcher of the Month for May.
Pérez finished the month of May with a 4-0 record. In 42 1/3rd innings pitcher, he had a 0.64 earned run average, 33 strikeouts and a 1.4 WAR (wins above replacement).
The media that covers the Rangers named Pérez the team’s Pitcher of the Month for May on Wednesday.
Pérez is having an impressive month start to the season and is making his one-year, $4 million contract with the Rangers look like a bargain. He also could be a trade target come July, if the Rangers are inclined to move him.
Just some of the ways that Pérez has excelled in May and for this season are below:
His 1.42 earned run average is the lowest in franchise history through a pitcher's first 10 starts in a season. The previous low was 1.60 by another left-hander, Kenny Rogers, in 1995.
Since April 23, Pérez has eight straight quality starts and has gone 4-0 with a 0.65 ERA.
Per Stats Inc., Pérez is just the third MLB pitcher since 1913 — when earned runs were officially tracked to post an eight-start span in which he went undefeated, did not allow a home run, had six or more innings pitched in each game and allowed one or fewer earned runs in each game. The other two pitchers are Hall of Famers Bob Gibson (1968) and Walter Johnson (1913-14).
In the last 33 seasons Pérez is the fourth AL pitcher to post an ERA in a month with 40 innings pitched at 0.64 or lower — Minnesota’s Johan Santana (0.46, September of 2004) and Oakland’s Cory Lidle (0.20, August of 2002) and Boston’s Pedro Martinez (0.64, July of 2022).
Only Yovani Gallardo (June of 2015, 0.54) had a lower ERA than Pérez in a month with at least five starts.
Opposing batters slashed .195/.241/.235/.475 (29-149) with just six extra base hits (all doubles) against Pérez in May, the lowest opposing OPS allowed by a qualified MLB pitcher in the month. The last Rangers pitcher who threw a minimum of 40 innings in a month and had an opposing OPS that low was Roger Pavlik (.474, Sept of 1995).
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