MARTÍN PÉREZ

Position(s): Left-handed pitcher Age: 33 Bats / Throws: Left / Left Height / Weight: 6-foot / 200 pounds How acquired: Traded from the Pirates on July 30, 2024 for prospect Ronaldys Jimenez 2024 salary: $8 million on a one-year deal Key 2024 stats: 5-6, 4.53 ERA, 107 strikeouts, 49 walks, 1.48 WHIP, .283 opponent avg., 135 innings (26 starts)

STAT TO NOTE

20.3 — In percentage, Pérez’s curveball usage in 10 starts (3.46 ERA) after the trade to the Padres, nearly double the usage (10.4 percent) in 16 starts with the Pirates (5.20 ERA) to start the season. Pérez threw his curveball just 3.7 percent of the time last year but leaned into the pitch as he moved from Pittsburgh to San Diego at the trade deadline as his .294 weighted on-base average against that pitch outpaced all of his other offerings.

TRENDING

Up — Originally signed as a 16-year-old by A.J. Preller and the Rangers in 2007, Pérez became an All-Star and a World Series champion in his second tour through Texas. But he was struggling on his one-year deal with the Pirates when the Padres sent a teenager to Pittsburgh to buoy a rotation that was without both Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish and taking on water as rookie Matt Waldron pressed into the summer. Originally, the Pérez trade looked like it could mirror the acquisition of Rich Hill the previous year from the Pirates. The Padres simply needed innings, but Pérez provided so much more as the Padres won each of his first six starts. In all, an adjustment to Pérez’s pitch usage (see stat to note) made him an asset down the stretch. He turned in quality starts in three of his 10 starts after the trade and allowed three runs or less in eight of those starts. That said, Pérez, who relies more on guile and pitch-ability than stuff, was not needed on the wild-card round roster and bypassed in favor of Dylan Cease on short rest in the NLDS even though he was on the roster when the Padres learned Tommy John surgery would bar Musgrove from pitching against the Dodgers.