FRISCO, Texas â Martin Perez couldn't have drawn up his return to the mound any better than Wednesday night's outing for the Frisco RoughRiders.
Forget the fact that Perez allowed five hits and a run in his 2 2/3 innings of work. Perez was able to throw all his pitches and is left arm felt great after the 45-pitch outing.
That's all Perez was hoping for in his first rehab game since having Tommy John surgery last May 19.
"So far so good and the positive is that my arm feels good," Perez said. "That's all I wanted to feel."
Perez threw 33 of his 45 pitches for strikes and struck out four batters. His fastball topped out at 94 mph in the first inning and in the final two innings he worked on his sinker and his changeup.
And while Perez knows his arm is healthy he still had some nerves on his first pitch, which was a 93 mph fastball that was a strike.
"The first one, yes," Perez said when asked if he was nervous. "It's been a year and one month but to be able to do what I did today was good. Now I just need to move on to do what I can to help the team."
The next step for Perez will be a bullpen Friday at Globe Life Park when the Rangers return home. He's then slated to make a four-inning start Monday for Round Rock. While the timeline for his return his the All-Star break Perez is hopeful he can be back sooner.
"I'm just happy to be back and doing my job to help the team, that's all," he said. "My focus now is finishing my rehab assignment and when they make the decision I want to be ready. I don't know many starts I need to go."
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