Detroit Tigers shut down top prospect Franklin Perez for season

Anthony Fenech | Detroit Free Press

A season which was on the road to being salvaged has ended.

Franklin Perez, the Detroit Tigers’ No. 1 prospect at midseason, is out for the season.

Perez left his start on July 26 with shoulder tightness, which was diagnosed by an MRI test as right shoulder capsular inflammation, Tigers vice president of player development Dave Littlefield said Monday night.

Perez’s shut down is partially as a precautionary measure, Littlefield said, as the team will now have him rehabilitate his shoulder stability and strength in order to start the 2019 season with a clean bill of health.

Perez is expected to be ready for spring training, Littlefield said.

The right-hander began the season on the minor-league disabled list after sustaining a right lat strain late in March, which forced him out of action for the first 12 weeks of the season. Perez made seven starts this season between Class A Lakeland and the Gulf Coast League.

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Littlefield said Perez felt fine after the first two innings in his last start and notified the training staff about the tightness after the third.

Given Perez’s potential — he was the centerpiece of the trade which sent Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros last season — the Tigers don’t want to risk rushing the rehabilitation process.

But Perez’s injury is a big blow. He threw 19⅓ innings in a season in which the Tigers were hoping he would add to his nearly 90-inning total last season. He allowed 18 hits and 14 runs with 14 strikeouts and eight walks for a 6.52 ERA.

More importantly, it is a lost year for Perez’s development.

Perez, who turns 21 in the winter, is ranked as the Tigers’ No. 2 prospect, according to both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.

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