Pre-Closing Time: Tonight's add is Chris Perez
Perez is widely-available, and he just picked up a five-out save for the Cardinals. He retired Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Russell Martin in the ninth, and finished with the following line: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Jason Isringhausen and Ryan Franklin have struggled for St. Louis, and the team has formed an unofficial committee. Perez is the most interesting member. The 23-year-old was excellent in May when he was initially called up, then he struggled in June, and was returned to Triple-A in July. He's a hard-thrower, as we've discussed before, and apparently the slider is coming along:
Perez said he pitched as early as the seventh inning in some games after being sent down to Memphis to allow him to work on the slider under less pressure. He also believed pitching on a more regular schedule helped.
“My slider, that’s the first thing that’s going to go when you get three or four days off,” Perez said. “They told me to throw a lot of sliders and get it back to where it was. It’s back.”
He's tonight's speculative add for those desperate for saves.
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