Braves will begin postseason without pitcher Martín Pérez

The Braves will be without Martín Pérez as they begin their postseason run.

Pérez, the season’s pleasant surprise as a veteran southpaw who’s helped stabilize the rotation, will be placed on the injured list because of lower back inflammation. He won’t be available for the Wild Card series next week and likely couldn’t return unless the Braves made it to the National League Championship Series.

“You can imagine how frustrated he is,” manager Walt Weiss said. “In his mind, he’s wanting to try to hurry up and get back and get back. He wants to be part of this, obviously.”

Pérez could have started or helped in a deciding Game 3, if necessary, at Truist Park next week. But now the Braves will be down a pitcher who’s been a godsend for them over the past six months.

After a winter in which the team didn’t address its rotation, Pérez was the lone external addition as a nonroster invitee. He impressed enough in spring, both as a pitcher and a clubhouse presence, that he made the team. The idea was he’d help hold the Braves over until other starters returned.

Pérez was even designated for assignment in April, but he cleared waivers and stayed with the Braves. It wound up one of the season’s most fortunate developments: He had a 3.04 ERA in 30 games (26 starts). He struck out 102 and walked 62 over 142 innings.

“He’s reestablished himself with the year he’s had,” Weiss said.

But he won’t factor into the earliest part of the postseason. The Braves will start Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle in the first two games of the best-of-three Wild Card series. Grant Holmes seems the likeliest to start a Game 3.

If the Braves advance, they’d open the best-of-five NL Division Series at Milwaukee or Los Angeles — likely the latter — and if they needed three games to escape the opening round, they’ll already be at a disadvantage for Game 1. Options could include youngsters JR Ritchie, Didier Fuentes (as an opener) and/or a bullpen game.

Bryce Elder (knee) doesn’t appear likely as an option. Ritchie will make another start this weekend in Miami, which now looms as an important evaluation. Weiss said he’s “not sure” AJ Smith-Shawver, who’s found a bullpen role, would be considered a starting option. He noted the situation would be fluid depending on how the Braves arrived at that point.

“We’ll cross that road when we get there,” Weiss said.

The injury continues a frustrating trend for the Braves in recent years. In 2022, starters Max Fried and Spencer Strider dealt with ailments. A year later, Charlie Morton was hurt and Fried had just returned from a blister. In 2024, Cy Young winner Sale was sidelined with back spasms on the final day of the regular season. And now Pérez joins this list.

The postseason is largely about luck. These late pitching injuries put the Braves behind the eight-ball before play even begins.