Wahoos Homestand Is Eury's Encore, Berry's Arrival, Former Wahoos Stars On New Teams
By late April of the Blue Wahoos’ 2022 season, Eury Perez found a groove that fast-tracked him into stardom. His fourth start was against the Biloxi Shuckers, after just turning 19-years-old. He allowed one hit and no runs that night. He struck out 12 batters in five innings, which remains
By late April of the Blue Wahoos’ 2022 season, Eury Perez found a groove that fast-tracked him into stardom.
His fourth start was against the Biloxi Shuckers, after just turning 19-years-old. He allowed one hit and no runs that night. He struck out 12 batters in five innings, which remains a career high. The rest of the season, there were only two starts where he allowed more than three runs.
A little more than 15 months later, he made an encore start Tuesday for the Blue Wahoos on the eventual path back to the Miami Marlins, where he wowed after making his MLB debut on May. 7. Ironically, his most recent mound appearance Tuesday was against the Biloxi Shuckers.
He struck six batters in the first two innings, overcame a rocky third inning when allowing four hits and three runs in a span of five batters, then faced one batter in the fourth inning and recorded his seventh strikeout to finish the night.
The Shuckers came back from a 6-3 deficit against the Blue Wahoos bullpen to eventually pull away for a 9-6 win in 10 innings.
Perez made a start last week on the road against the Mississippi Braves, which was his first mound appearance since July 6 when he faced the St. Louis Cardinals and gave up just one run in six innings. That was his 11th big league start since going straight from Pensacola to the big leagues.
Following the Cardinals game, the Marlins applied the brakes on the 20-year-old, 6-foot-8 phenom, who has already thrown more innings – now 86.2 – than any time in his career.
He had never thrown more than 78 innings in a season. The Marlins wanted him to take a break, fearful of over-extending the righthander, whose fastball routinely approaches 100 mph.
“The plan was always to get him into competition,” said Marlins general manager Kim Ng, speaking to the Miami Herald on the progress of Perez. “We’re creating a path for him to come back. We’ll take it day by day and see where the staff is, see where he is, and just make sure that we monitor this really closely.”
There’s a chance Tuesday was the last time Perez pitched in a Blue Wahoos uniform. The hope in Miami is that he can return and help the Marlins make a playoff push. On Sept. 1, the Blue Wahoos are commemorating his two seasons with a Eury Perez Bobblehead Night.
Not sure how many 20-year-old MLB rookies ever had a bobblehead created so early in their career and by their former minor league team, but Perez made such an impression that it merited memorabilia.
He gave Blue Wahoos fans plenty to marvel about.
WAHOOS NOTABLES
BERRY DEBUT – Former LSU star Jacob Berry, who was the Miami Marlins’ top draft selection in 2022, will play his first games this week at Blue Wahoos Stadium. He made his Double-A debut last week against the Mississippi Braves, collecting five hits in 24 at-bats in the series, including his first Double-A home run in Sunday’s finale. He had three RBI and two stolen bases in the series. Berry, a corner infielder, was the sixth overall selection in the 2022 MLB Draft and began this season in High-A with the Beloit Sky Carp.
JOHNSTON SHINES IN JAX – After being elevated to Triple-A Jacksonville, former Blue Wahoos star Troy Johnston continued his strong production at the plate. In six games last week for the Jumbo Shrimp, Johnston had 11 hits, including at least one hit in every game and multiple hits in four games. He batted .440 with three doubles, two homers, four RBI and three runs scored.
MOTHER’S LOVE – Shirley Studer, the mother of Blue Wahoos team owner Quint Studer, was among the Blue Wahoos biggest fans. She either attended games in person or in her later years, she faithfully listened to every radio broadcast in the 11-year history of the franchise. She passed away last week, four months shy of her 99th birthday. The Blue Wahoos were set to honor her memory Tuesday night at the ballpark with photos, videos, a song she loved and other tributes.
BEST WISHES – After joining the Blue Wahoos in early July, following 22 months of recovery from two surgeries, acclaimed lefthander Jake Eder, the Marlins No. 4 rated prospect, has made a steady progression into the form he showed in 2021.
It made him attractive to other teams as well, In the final hours of the trade deadline Tuesday, the Miami Marlins completed a deal to send Eder, the team's No. 4 prospet, to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for White Sox infielder Jake Burger.
That season with the Blue Wahoos he was among the most dominating pitchers in Minor League Baseball before developing an elbow injury in July that led to Tommy John surgery. Eder’s last start on July 29 with the Blue Wahoos was his deepest, going into the sixth inning with 10 strikeouts – the second most in his pro career. He allowed just one hit, two runs, two walks and a hit batter across 5.2 innings. He’s scheduled to make his next start this weekend at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
UP NEXT
This Week: It will be the fourth series this season against the Biloxi Shuckers, the Milwaukee Brewers affiliate, and second time in Blue Wahoos Stadium. The teams split their last meeting in Pensacola. The Shuckers are coming off a six-game, home sweep last week against the Birmingham Barons to take over the second-half lead in the Southern League South Division. Biloxi is battling Montgomery for the second-half playoff spot to face fhe Blue Wahoos in post-season.
The Shuckers boast two of baseball’s best prospects, outfielder Jackson Chourio and catcher Jeferson Quero. The 19-year-old Chourio is the No. 2 overall prospect in Minor League Baseball as ranked by MLB Pipeline.com. He is the first teenager to hit 15 or more home runs in a season at the Double-A level since San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. did so in 2018. Quero is ranted the No. 58 overall prospect in MiLB by Baseball America. Both appeared in the MLB Futures Game in Seattle with the Blue Wahoos Patrick Monteverde and Nasim Nunez.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Biloxi Shuckers vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Tuesday Thru Sunday.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
GAMETIMES: Tuesday through Friday games begin at 6:35 p.m., Saturday’s game is at 6:05 p.m., Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
TICKETS: Available online at www.bluewahoos.com/tickets. Or at the stadium box office throughout the week.
LIVE AUDIO: A live broadcast of each game will begin five minutes before first pitch on www.bluewahoos.com and the MiLB First Pitch App.
LIVE VIDEO STREAM – A live video broadcast is available through Bally Live and MiLB TV (subscription required).
PROMOTIONS: Tuesday: Doggone Tuesday sponsored by Anderson Subaru with people allowed to bring their beloved dogs to the game. And it’s one price tickets for $18 that include hot, chips, drink and best available seat.
Wednesday: Winning Wednesday sponsored by Hill-Kelly that includes baseball bingo and it will be the last summer, mid-week fireworks show of the season.
Thursday: Mullet Thursday with Blue Wahoos wearing Pensacola Mullets uniforms and drink specials for those of legal age throughout the game.
Friday: Giveaway Friday. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Blue Wahoos jersey-design lunchbox container from sponsor Columbia Southern University. It will be Stars Wars night with special Stars Wars characters in attendance and Star Wars music as well as Blue Wahoos memorabilia and other autographed auction items with proceeds going to the Studer Community Institute.
Saturday: Fireworks Saturday. Post-game fireworks presented by Hill-Kelly, plus CivicCon Night to honor the ongoing series of CivicCon events that benefit community awareness.
Sunday: Family Sunday presented by WKRG-News 5 with children able to run the bases following the game and families able to toss soft baseballs in the outfield.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE STANDINGS
(Overall Record, Second-Half Record)
NORTH DIVISION
Tennessee Smokies (Chicago Cubs) – 54-41, 18-9
Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati Reds) – 51-44, 13-14
Rocket City Trash Pandas (LA Angels) 42-53, 11-15
Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox) – 33-62, 8-18
SOUTH DIVISION
Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Miami Marlins) 57-38, 16-11
Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee Brewers) 51-45, 17-10
Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays) 49-46, 13-13
Mississippi Braves (Atlanta Braves) 43-51, 10-16
NOTE: Chattanooga and Pensacola have qualified for the divisional playoffs which begin Sept. 19. The second half of the Southern League standings will determine the opponents.