Perez gets back on track for Buies Creek

Class A Advanced Buies Creek manager Omar Lopez knew there would be a curve to getting Franklin Perez back on track after a stint on the disabled list. On Sunday afternoon, the right-hander looked right on schedule.
The Astros' sixth-ranked prospect allowed two hits and struck out six over five innings in his fourth start back from injury as Buies Creek blanked Wilmington, 4-0, at Frawley Stadium.

"The first two outings that he had after being on the DL, that's what we were expecting," Lopez said of Perez, who surrendered eight runs over 9 2/3 innings in his first three starts back from right calf tightness. "He was probably going to be out of rhythm with his delivery. For the long time he spent on the DL, we were expecting that every outing he was going to get better and better."
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Perez started the season with a 14 1/3-inning scoreless streak before missing more than a month. Upon returning, he didn't pitch past the fourth on May 24 against Salem, May 29 at Frederick or June 4 against Myrtle Beach, but Lopez and his staff showed patience that paid off on Sunday.
"The last outing before today, he was still dealing with some issues with his delivery," the manager said. "Chris Holt, our pitching coach, showed him videos from when he was pitching in the first part of the season. We put in the last outing, those two videos together, and he made the adjustments the last four days to this outing. Today, he was completely in sync with his body, his lower half, and he was able to angle the ball to the bottom of the zone with all pitches."
Perez walked Anderson Miller in the first and No. 6 Royals prospect Chase Vallot in the fourth but got out of each jam. The 19-year-old didn't allow a hit until back-to-back singles to center by Kort Peterson and Wander Franco leading off the fifth. Perez stranded both.
"It's always a process when a pitcher is doing so well and then misses a lot of time, especially since in the first two weeks after he went on the DL, he didn't throw any balls," Lopez said. "Then it just takes some time to get the rhythm back in his whole delivery. We were expecting that the first two outings would be a little out of sync and a struggle with command, but he was getting better the second outing. Today, he was completely the guy we saw early in the season."
Perez -- MLB.com's No. 95 overall prospect -- has 29 strikeouts over 29 innings against eight walks while holding opponents to a .135 batting average.  

"He's 19 years old, but he thinks and acts and goes about his business like a guy who's been in the game for 10, 12 years," Lopez said. "He's an open-minded kid. Every piece of advice that he gets, he gets information, he's able to process information and apply it. He's open-minded to hear and be receptive to any adjustments he needs to make for the next outing. That's what separates his age from his mentality."
After Perez threw 50 of 80 pitches for strikes, Devon Carr scattered three hits over three innings and Nick Hernandez worked around a pair of walks in the ninth to finish off the Astros' fifth shutout.
Confident his young righty is returning to form, Lopez laid out Perez's next steps.
"I talked to him a little bit after his fourth inning about how he needs to go for the next four days, to make sure when he throws his changeup to keep the same arm angle and not drop it down a little bit," he said. "He's trying to work on having the same arm action, but it's something that's going to come with a lot of work and reps. When everything works well, I think he's going to have three plus pitches. He needs to make that little adjustment, but that's going to come with time."
Ryne Birk had two hits, including a two-run homer, and Myles Straw drove in Buies Creek's other two runs.