'Electric' Pérez hits 99 mph, wows hitters in live BP

JUPITER, Fla. -- A year ago, nearly the entire Marlins organization gathered around a Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium back field to watch prized pitching phenom Eury Pérez throw live batting practice.

After Pérez made his Major League debut at age 20 and lived up to the hype during his rookie season in 2023, the buzz wasn’t quite the same on Thursday. But that doesn’t mean the shine has worn off. Just ask Jazz Chisholm Jr., who faced his teammate for the first time.

“It's electric,” said Chisholm, who jumped Pérez’s second pitch and made hard contact. “It's Spring Training full day No. 3 or 4 and he's already throwing 99 [mph]. It just shows how electric the kid is. Not even 21 years old yet and still doing it like that. The stuff is electric. I only saw two fastballs, but I could tell why. It's pretty sick.”

Pérez threw 25 pitches during live BP, though he had trouble with his changeup grip because the nail was cutting his right middle finger.

“It was just a little cut,” Pérez said via interpreter Will Nadal. “It's something where I was bleeding a little bit. Like I said, it wasn't something I was feeling pain or anything that's going to be worrisome. It was just a little cut that I had there.”

Back on the mound
Right-hander Sixto Sánchez threw live batting practice on Wednesday as he tries to prove he has recovered from multiple setbacks and two shoulder surgeries over the past three years to make the Opening Day roster.

According to The Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson, Sánchez threw 20 pitches -- mixing his fastball, changeup and cutter -- while facing Luis Arraez, Jake Burger, Jon Berti, Avisaíl García and Bennett Hostetler.

The 25-year-old Sánchez threw one scoreless inning for Double-A Pensacola last Sept. 12, in his first game action since Spring Training 2021. He was scheduled for a bullpen session on Sept. 15 and another outing of one or two innings, or 25 pitches with the Blue Wahoos on Sept. 17, but he did not appear in the game. Instead, Sánchez continued his throwing program with Triple-A Jacksonville.

“Sixto's out of options, so it's time to go,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “We've got to see it. And so he'll see some innings, see how he recovers today. Velo was up yesterday. Can he sustain it the next time around? That's going to be the main thing for us, is what does that look like his next bullpen and the next live [batting practice session]? And then you'll see him -- if things keep progressing like it does -- you'll see him have some innings.

“Yesterday was a big day for him. He hasn't done that in a while, at least in front of me, and since I've been here, where it's looked like a big leaguer throwing to big league hitters and having some success. I know it's a live [session] and it's early and a lot of these guys' first at-bats in five months, but it was really encouraging for him and for us, and we'll see what it looks like.”

Worth noting

• Right-handed reliever Huascar Brazoban (visa issues) still has not arrived at big league camp.
• Left-hander Ryan Weathers will start Miami’s Grapefruit League opener on Saturday against St. Louis. Southpaw Jesús Luzardo will start Sunday’s spring home opener against the Nationals. Both games will be at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.