ATLANTA -- Friday was supposed to be Jared Jones¡¯ turn in the rotation, but the Pirates opted to skip it for two reasons. The first was to manage his workload. He¡¯s already only about 40 innings off of his career high and the team would prefer for him to pitch through the end of the season. Some built-in breathers will probably be needed to do that and keep his innings at a reasonable total.

The second was getting Martín Pérez back from the injured list. The team¡¯s veteran lefty had been absent from Major League game action for over a month due to a left groin strain, and his first start back was less than ideal. The Braves racked up six runs, including a five-run third, on eight hits and two walks over four innings against the returning southpaw in a 6-1 Pirates loss at Truist Park Friday.

P¨¦rez appeared to fit the soft-tossing, strike-throwing free agent lefty that had worked for Pittsburgh in recent years -- Tyler Anderson, Jos¨¦ Quintana and Rich Hill all fit this mold -- but things started to turn sour once the calendar turned to May. P¨¦rez has surrendered 27 runs (25 earned) over 26 2/3 innings since the end of April, including allowing nine home runs compared to just one over the first month of the season.

When P¨¦rez is clicking, it¡¯s usually because he¡¯s able to locate and execute his secondary pitches, especially the changeup. He couldn¡¯t do that Friday. After Matt Olson just pulled foul what would have been a two-run shot off the offspeed offering in the first inning, Austin Riley hit a changeup to P¨¦rez¡¯s handside flush to straightaway center for a second-inning homer. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the third, P¨¦rez turned to the changeup again against Marcell Ozuna, but the designated hitter wound up clearing the bases with a double.

¡°He just left ¡®em up,¡± said manager Derek Shelton. ¡°I think we see when Mart¨ªn¡¯s effective, he can run the fastball in and then run the changeup off it on the other side. That¡¯s a heavy and really good right-handed hitting lineup. We just left some balls up.¡±

¡°They get good swings on that pitch,¡± said P¨¦rez. ¡°The hitters were ready for it. ¡­ That was their approach.

Shelton believed P¨¦rez had to get some rust off after not pitching in a Major League game since May 26, but the pitcher wasn¡¯t looking for an excuse.

¡°Sometimes you throw the pitch and they¡¯re ready to hit,¡± P¨¦rez said. ¡°I got a lot of soft contact, and I was throwing good pitches in. They were just on it. That¡¯s the game. That¡¯s what happens when you face good hitters, and these guys can hit the ball.¡±

While P¨¦rez¡¯s line of six runs on eight hits and two walks over four innings was rough, he only allowed four hard-hit balls in play. He was far from perfect, but it¡¯s not outlandish to see how a similar sinker and cutter execution could yield a much better start with some better batted-ball luck.

The Pirates certainly could use that April version of P¨¦rez again, especially with a stretch of 13 straight games on the docket starting this Tuesday running through the end of the first half of the season. A six-man rotation is a possibility for at least part of that stretch, and even after then, the team needs arms to give breaks for Jones and fellow rookie phenom Paul Skenes.

¡°The health of our players is the most important thing,¡± Shelton said pregame about workload management for his young pitchers, ¡°and getting the most of them is what we¡¯ll continue to look at.¡±

The best way to do that is to have the whole rotation clicking, including veterans like P¨¦rez.