Martin Pérez continues to silence doubters with another brilliant performance

In terms of unexpected surplus value, nobody has provided more to the Braves than Martin Pérez.

The 35-year-old veteran signed a minor-league contract with the club during the offseason and looked like a massive long shot to make the team out of Spring Training. That all changed when Hurston Waldrep, Spencer Strider, and Spencer Schwellenbach went down with injuries. It left the Braves with several massive voids to fill, and nobody believed Pérez was good enough to alleviate those concerns long-term — not even the people inside the organization who signed him.

After three more than decent performances to start the 2026 campaign, posting a 3.14 ERA, the Braves somewhat surprisingly designated him for assignment. What followed might have been one of the most important moments of the entire season: Pérez cleared waivers. Not only did the Braves fail to fully appreciate what he had to offer, but there wasn’t another team in the league that thought he could make a positive impact either.

That’s pretty remarkable considering just about every club is looking for quality starting pitching.

Pérez understandably wasn’t pleased with the decision, but ultimately he and his agent felt it was best for him to return to Atlanta — and all the decision-makers should be thanking their lucky stars it turned out that way. Outside of Chris Sale, nobody has been more reliable week to week than Martin Pérez, which continued Tuesday with six scoreless innings. And the Braves needed him to be that good.

The offense mustered just one hit through the first seven innings, leading to only two runs. But they got a bit of insurance with two outs in the eighth, as Matt Olson crushed his 35th home run of the season off the Chop House, tying him for the league lead.

Olson deserves MVP consideration, even if he’s not going to beat out the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Pete Crow-Armstrong. But Tuesday belonged to Pérez, who now has a scoreless innings streak of 18.0 — a run that includes a start where he carried a no-hitter into the seventh-inning a couple of weeks ago.

For the season, his ERA has now dropped below 3.00. He’s accrued nearly 3.0 WAR, and if the postseason started tomorrow, there’s a strong case he should get the ball in Game 2 behind Chris Sale. It’s one of the best stories of the season, and a primary reason the Braves are waving to a Phillies team that’s miles behind in the rearview mirror.

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(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)