{"id":744759,"date":"2026-07-06T16:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/744759\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T16:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:48:15","slug":"ken-rosenthal-has-controversial-reaction-to-pitcher-being-pulled-from-perfect-game-after-7-innings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/744759\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Rosenthal has controversial reaction to pitcher being pulled from perfect game after 7 innings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few managerial decisions have sparked more controversy this MLB<\/a> season than the one made by Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough on Sunday. With Eury P\u00e9rez carrying a perfect game through seven innings, fans were expecting to witness history. Instead, McCullough made the controversial decision to end his pitcher\u2019s afternoon after just seven flawless frames, setting off a wave of criticism from fans, analysts, and former players. The backlash only intensified when Miami\u2019s bullpen nearly squandered the game by allowing seven earned runs after P\u00e9rez exited.<\/p>\n

MORE: MLB Power Rankings: All 30 teams ranked worst to first to begin July<\/a><\/p>\n

A Controversial Decision That Divided Baseball<\/p>\n

\"\"Jul 5, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Perez (39) throws a pitch against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

For many baseball fans, the argument seemed simple. If a pitcher is throwing a perfect game, he deserves the opportunity to finish it\u2014or at the very least, continue pitching until he allows a baserunner. <\/p>\n

Perfect games are among the rarest accomplishments in sports, making McCullough\u2019s decision difficult for many to accept. However, not everyone believes the Marlins made the wrong call.<\/p>\n

Rosenthal Adds to Controversy and Defends the Move<\/p>\n

MLB insider Ken Rosenthal<\/a> came to McCullough\u2019s defense, arguing that protecting P\u00e9rez\u2019s long-term health outweighed chasing an individual milestone.<\/p>\n

Rosenthal pointed to P\u00e9rez\u2019s injury history as the biggest factor. The talented right-hander has already dealt with significant health issues during his young career, making workload management a priority for the Marlins.<\/p>\n

With Miami playing its best baseball of the season and firmly in the playoff picture, risking another injury for one game simply wasn\u2019t worth it.<\/p>\n

The Pitch Count Tells the Story<\/p>\n

\"\"Jul 5, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Perez (39) throws a pitch against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Rosenthal also highlighted a statistic that many critics overlooked. By the time P\u00e9rez completed seven perfect innings, he had already thrown 92 pitches. Throughout his major league career, he had never exceeded 102 pitches in a single outing.<\/p>\n

Had the Marlins sent him back out, there was a very real possibility P\u00e9rez would have been forced to throw well beyond his career-high pitch count just to complete the perfect game. Given his injury history, that represented a significant gamble.<\/p>\n

Thinking About October<\/p>\n

While the decision was unpopular, the Marlins weren\u2019t managing for one historic afternoon; they were managing for the remainder of the season. A healthy Eury P\u00e9rez gives Miami a chance to continue its remarkable surge and compete down the stretch. Losing him because of an expanded workload in early July would have been a devastating blow to those hopes.<\/p>\n

The criticism of McCullough is understandable, especially considering how close P\u00e9rez was to history. But as Rosenthal pointed out, managers aren\u2019t paid to chase memorable moments; they\u2019re paid to put their teams in the best position to succeed over a 162-game season.<\/p>\n

In the end, preserving one of the franchise\u2019s most valuable pitchers may prove to be far more important than pursuing a perfect game.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories on The Big Lead\u00a0<\/a>\u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Few managerial decisions have sparked more controversy this MLB season than the one made by Miami Marlins manager…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":744760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2395],"tags":[5,1072,4748,1816,778,58,4171,4],"class_list":["post-744759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami-marlins","tag-baseball","tag-eury-perez","tag-ken-rosenthal","tag-marlins","tag-miami","tag-miami-marlins","tag-miamimarlins","tag-mlb"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116874058452026228","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}