A quick look on the surface of Martin Perez's numbers through his first two starts would be nothing but encouraging.
Two starts, at least six innings each, and an ERA of 3.65 would be encouraging for the young lefty who is in his first full season since returning from Tommy John surgery last summer.
But a closer look reveals something else — concern.
Perez has nine walks in those two starts with three strikeouts, and those were all in his season debut. His second start saw him walk five and strike out none. That's a tough rate to maintain with success.
Perez leads the league with five double play balls and is still a groundball machine. He will never be a big strikeout guy, but he can't be a walk guy, either, because that will blow up in his face sooner rather than later.
Perez takes the mound against a hot-hitting Orioles team on Friday and will look to clean things up a bit. If he doesn't, he might be running into a team that will make him pay for it.
