There probably wasn't a more promising season for any member of the Texas Rangers than the one Martin Perez put together in 2013.
The 22-year-old lefty had earned the No. 5 spot in the rotation out of spring training before taking a line drive off his forearm and missing the first two months of the season.
He was OK in a spot start on Memorial Day before hitting the minors again before his final call-up in June when the Rangers were in St. Louis. Perez shut the Cardinals down and earned the win before winning his next five starts, on top of that.
Perez was named the Rangers Rookie of the Year by the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America on Monday. He finished the year with a 10-6 record and a 3.62 ERA in 20 starts. His 10 wins was good for a tie for the most wins by a rookie pitcher in the AL and his ERA was good for the second-best mark among AL rookies.
Perez's season was a great bright spot for the Rangers' season as the youngster appears to have a No. 2 ceiling with at least the potential to be a quality No. 3 pitcher for years to come.
