At one point, over the homestretch of the Texas Rangers' 2013 season, Martin Perez was their ace.
Over the course of the full season, that title obviously belonged to Yu Darvish, but Perez was on fire in August and early September, continuously lifting the Rangers out of skids and picked up wins in six straight starts.
Aside from a spot start on Memorial Day that was followed by another stint in Triple-A, Perez's debut in June was a gem in St. Louis when he shut down the NL champion Cardinals. He definitely had some shining moments.
So, was Perez snubbed earlier this week when the three finalists were announced for the AL Rookie of the Year honors? You could make a pretty solid case for it, even though it might just be a deal of having four quality guys and only room for three finalists.
Jose Iglesias, Wil Myers and Chris Archer — that's your list.
The best guy to compare Perez to, obviously, is Archer, another rookie starting pitcher.
Let's look at the numbers...
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Perez — 10-6, 3.62 ERA, 124 1/3 innings, 20 starts, 84 strikeouts, 37 walks, 15 home runs allowed
Archer — 9-7, 3.22 ERA, 128 2/3 innings, 23 starts, 101 strikeouts, 38 walks, 15 home runs allowed
As you can see, they're pretty much identical. Archer is flashier and more of a strikeout pitcher, and as you can see by IP vs. starts, Perez pitches deeper into games. Both are really good, young pitchers who their teams hope will continue to get better every year for a long time.
