The Texas Rangers are asking Martin Perez to be one of two -- count 'em, two -- Rangers starters who can be trusted. That's right. The same Perez who wasn't even pitching in the big leagues at this time last season and didn't solidify a spot until June of last season when he was still 22 years old.
But that's what we've come to early this season, and he's only the No. 2 guy on that list because Yu Darvish is back in the rotation after missing his first start of the season for neck stiffness.
Perez will look to improve on his first start of the season, when he was pretty dang good but fell apart in the sixth inning on a night the Rangers won in walkoff fashion. While the Rangers await their reinforcements -- and who knows what they'll get from Colby Lewis and Matt Harrison -- they're going to be counting on Darvish and Perez to hopefully pitch really, really well and get them two wins every five days.
Darvish showed on Sunday that he's already at his "A game" after not facing big-league hitters since spring training, and Perez needs to be on his, as well, or the Rangers could be in a hole by the time reinforcements arrive.
