Injured righty Franklin Perez re-signs with Detroit Tigers on minor-league contract

The Franklin Perez experience continues for the Detroit Tigers.

The organization re-signed the former top prospect to a minor-league contract Friday after he cleared unconditional release waivers. The right-handed pitcher underwent right shoulder surgery Wednesday, the same day he was released.

"He will be out a while," Tigers manager AJ Hinch said Tuesday. "That announcement obviously impacts the rest of his year."

Releasing Perez, 23, made room on the 40-man roster for catcher Eric Haase to replace injured Grayson Greiner. Because all 29 other teams didn't add Perez to their 40-man rosters, the Tigers brought him back on a minors deal.

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Perez was the centerpiece of the 2017 Justin Verlander trade. The Tigers acquired him, along with catcher Jake Rogers and outfielder Daz Cameron, for the likely Hall of Famer pitcher. After the trade, Perez became the team's No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

Since the trade, Perez has pitched just nine games and 27 innings in Detroit's farm system. He logged a 2.35 ERA in 7⅔ innings in 2019. He had a 6.52 ERA across 19⅓ innings in 2018 for the Gulf Coast League Tigers (three games) and High-A Lakeland (four games).

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The most Perez has ever pitched came in 2017, when he competed in 19 games (16 starts) and 86⅓ innings in the Houston Astros' farm system. He registered a 3.44 ERA, 27 walks and 78 strikeouts. In 2016, Perez had a 2.84 ERA, 19 walks and 75 strikeouts in 66⅔ innings.

But he hasn't been the same since coming to the Tigers.

"In spring, we were all looking to see where his velocity was, his strength and how the ball was coming out of his hand," Hinch said. "We saw little glimpses of improvement and then a step backward and then more improvement, and then a step backward. It just become an endless cycle on a day-to-day basis. The symptoms and getting him checked out by doctors developed as the minor-league spring training got underway."

Numerous injuries are to blame: right lat strain, shoulder capsular inflammation, right shoulder tendinitis and now right shoulder surgery. The minor leagues were canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, making it difficult for the Tigers to fully evaluate him.

Perez appeared in two spring training games this year, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks in 1⅔ innings for a 10.80 ERA. His fastball velocity sat at 89-90 mph and maxed out at 91.6 mph.

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"He didn't look particularly great the entire spring from a heath standpoint," Hinch said. "He was working hard. He was upbeat. His feedback was mostly positive. But when you go from a guy who was throwing in the mid- to upper-90s before to having to reinvent himself, there was a little bit of red flag that came about during the spring."

Perez was supposed to pitch for High-A West Michigan in 2021 but opened the year on the injured list with a right shoulder capsule defect.

After visiting Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the head team physician for the L.A. Dodgers and Rams, the organization learned he needed surgery, which was performed Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Franklin Perez re-signs with Detroit Tigers on minor-league contract