One of the more underrated pitchers in MLB free agency is Martín Pérez. With the St. Louis Cardinals in need of some pitching help, they could be a prime candidate to sign Pérez.
One of the main reasons why Pérez doesn’t command much attention is that he spent his 2025 season with the Chicago White Sox. However, Pérez had a strong season. At 34 years old, after declining his mutual option with the White Sox, Pérez will more than likely be looking to sign with a contender.
With that in mind, it would make a ton of sense for the Cardinals to pursue Pérez with the hope that he’ll help their rotation in a 2026 postseason run.
This is a PREDICTION, not a REPORT.
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Martín Pérez Joining St. Louis Cardinals in MLB Free Agency
Pérez has had a long and fairly successful career. At this point, Pérez has played in the MLB for 14 years with one All-Star nod and one World Series win in 2023.
While Pérez only played in 11 games last year, he pitched well in that time. Pérez had 1.2 WAR, a 1-6 record, and a 3.54 ERA.
Outside of just that, though, it’s important to look at what Pérez did in terms of his Baseball Savant numbers as well.
Last season, Pérez had a Pitching Run Value in the 65th percentile, which backs up the claim of him having a strong year overall. On top of that, Pérez was in the 73rd percentile for this Fastball Run Value, 34th for his Breaking Run Value, and 77th for his Offspeed Run Value.
In regard to his pitch arsenal, Pérez actually threw his sinker the most last year, 31% of the time, to be specific. Pérez actually only threw his four-seam fastball just 4% of the time. The rest of his pitches were his change-up, which he threw 29% of the time, cutter at 28% and curveball at 8%.
How Martín Pérez Fits with the St. Louis Cardinals
Although the Cardinals aren’t a bad team, they’re not elite either. It’s been an up-and-down past few years for St. Louis. After the Cardinals won 93 games in 2022, they’ve hovered between 71 and 83 wins in the years since.
The goal in signing Pérez is to see if he can help stabilize their rotation to keep this Cardinals team on the rise for more than just one year. One starter that Pérez could replace would be Andre Pallante, who’s 27 years old.
2025 was a rough year for Pallante, and it’s not as if he’s ever been lights out. Last year, Pallante had -1.2 WAR, a 6-15 record, and a 5.31 ERA.
Pérez would be a clear upgrade to this rotation.
Martín Pérez Stats
Mostly everything that’s been mentioned about Pérez up to this point has been positive. However, two important stats to note, which weren’t great for Pérez, are his xERA and xBA.
In terms of xBA, that wasn’t great at .252 (32nd percentile), but Pérez’s xERA was 5.30 (8th percentile), which is concerning.
Regardless, Martín Pérez is a proven and solid veteran pitcher who could help out the St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation without breaking the bank.