White Sox left-hander Martin Perez’s major-league future was up in the air as he walked off the mound April 18 against the Red Sox with a left flexor strain.
Perez sat in the visitors’ clubhouse at Fenway Park, listening to trainer James Kruk, who said: ‘‘Hey, Martin, at some point maybe you’re going to get surgery.’’
Perez, 34, knew having surgery would be perilous with the 1,595⅔ innings he had accumulated. But Perez got a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister — he performed Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner’s flexor-tendon surgery — who told him he didn’t need surgery. Once he got that opinion, Perez started mapping out his return.
“Every day was a race for me,” Perez said. “At the same time, I was believing in my routine.”
Perez (1-2, 3.09 ERA) finally returned in the 1-0 loss to the Tigers on Wednesday.
He entered in the sixth inning and worked his way into a bases-loaded jam with no outs after months away from big-league action.
“I was nervous,” said Perez, who pitched 3⅓ innings, allowed a run, three hits and two walks and struck out four. “My legs were shaking a lot.”
Perez took the nerves as a good sign. He said it would be a problem if he went on the mound and didn’t feel those jitters.
But being in a high-pressure situation allowed him to settle in as he navigated the predicament. He got the first out on a sacrifice fly by Wenceel Perez that gave the Tigers the lead. Then, with runners on first and third, he struck out Javy Baez on a 1-2 changeup. The last out came on a forceout of Jahmai Jones.
“I’m happy for him,” said starter Shane Smith, who threw five scoreless innings. “Even in the times that he’s not playing, he’s been in this clubhouse and great for us all year.”
Perez’s stint on the injured list allowed him to establish deeper connections with his teammates. As he watched them compete, he often was seen in the clubhouse providing tips or talking with them about their outings.
“For his journey this year and to have him come and do what he did today was awesome,” manager Will Venable said.
But Perez didn’t sign with the Sox this offseason to serve as a pitching coach; he wants to be on the mound. Perez’s cutter sat at 86.4 mph, around a tick above his yearly average.
Perez, like he showed before the injury, can be successful even with his diminished velocity.
“The way that he attacks hitters with what he has is pretty remarkable,” Smith said. “Is he gonna blow your doors off? No, but he’s going to get swings-and-misses on heaters.
“He just goes out there and shoves. That’s something to take from him.”
As Perez was rehabbing, his teammates were encouraging him just as much as he was imparting wisdom to them.
“All the support from my teammates was good in all this process for me,” Perez said. “When you have [these] kind of teammates and they support you no matter what, you go out there and perform for your teammates, the fans and this organization.”
Perez pitched in the ninth just to face left-handed hitter Zach McKinstry and was replaced by right-hander Steven Wilson after getting the out. But Perez’s competitive juices were flowing.
“I was ready for another inning,” he said. “That’s OK. It’s coming.”
