The Braves designated a left-hander Martin Perez for an assignment, as Walt Weiss told reporters (including Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal Constitution). He is replaced in the active lineup by the southpaw Dylan Doddrecalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Perez, 35, is now in the 15th season of his MLB career. He was signed by the Rangers out of Venezuela and made his pro debut all the way back in 2008, but didn’t make it to the big leagues until 2012. Since then, he has spent his career focusing on average or below league average results as a back-of-the-rotation starter and swing man. He signed with the White Sox last year but spent most of the 2025 season on the injured list with elbow and shoulder problems. In the few starts Perez was able to make last year, he was efficient with a 3.54 ERA and 4.24 FIP in 56 1/3 innings of work.
That wasn’t enough to earn him a major league contract to begin his age-35 season, but he stuck with Atlanta on a minor league deal. Although he didn’t make the team in Spring Training, an injury early in the game led to Atlanta optioning Perez to the majors to help eat up the innings. He did that as well as possible, pitching 14 1/3 innings of five-run ball in three appearances for the Braves before his DFA. He struck out six that time, but results when healthy recently have been solid. He has posted a 3.46 ERA and 4.46 FIP between the White Sox, Padres, and Braves since being traded to San Diego at the 2024 trade deadline.
Of course, that hardly makes him a truly talented pitcher with a 3.46 ERA at this stage of his career. Perez has a long history of faltering when it comes to his results, leading to an All-Star appearance in 2022 while struggling to stay within the league average in other years. Combined, Perez has a career ERA+ of 100 over 1600 major league innings and should be expected to produce more of that back-to-back, innings-eating career as long as life allows.
That would make the lefty an interesting option for any team dealing with injuries to early starters. The Blue Jays, Cubs, and Astros are among the teams that have sent several key pitchers to the injured list in recent weeks, and any of them may be willing to roll the dice on Perez and his minimum salary in the $3.5MM range. All of those clubs enter 2026 as expected contenders, but even a non-contending club like the White Sox could take Perez into the rotation to help stabilize their backfield rotation. Shane SmithHis struggles led to him being selected for the minors this past week.
If Perez will not be released by another club, he can accept a direct assignment with Atlanta, where he will wait for his next opportunity with the club. Another option would be to opt for free agency and explore the open market. With that said, Perez may benefit from receiving the assurance that the Braves have their own challenger needs and will call him up again in the short term if he stays with the organization.
For now, though, his roster spot will go to Dodd. The lefty has a career 5.68 ERA in the majors but posted a respectable 3.60 ERA in 35 innings as a relief arm for the Braves last year. He figures to serve as Atlanta’s long reliever in the coming days, a role where he should prove useful in the short term while Atlanta uses the upcoming days off in the schedule as an opportunity to use a four-man rotation. As noted by MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, the Braves won’t need a fifth starter until April 21 given the makeup of their upcoming roster. Meanwhile, Perez could rejoin the MLB roster once he is in the league.
