Perez says Rangers miss Darvish, but still have job to do

Left-hander Martin Perez doesn’t feel as if an extra load has fallen on his shoulders with Yu Darvish no longer in the Texas Rangers’ rotation. Perez’s job is the same as it always was — to do his job.

That job hasn’t been going particularly well of late after a nice start to the second half, but Perez believes he has struck on the reason. He hasn’t been able to throw his curveball and slider for strikes, and opponents have gotten to him on fastballs as he tried to get back into counts.

“I was working on it my bullpen, and I feel better,” said Perez, who is scheduled to start Friday against the Minnesota Twins.

Perez and Darvish are good friends, and Perez admitted that he feels a void. But baseball is a business, something all players understand, and the Rangers still on the club know they have to keep moving forward.

“That’s how the game is,” Perez said. “We traded him and got a good prospect back. We just need to focus and do with what we have here. It doesn’t mean that because Darvish isn’t here were not going to be good. We miss him, a lot, but that’s part of the game.”

Cole Hamels and Nick Martinez will finish off the four-game series at Target Field. Tyson Ross had been under consideration in Martinez’s spot, but instead will make another rehab start Saturday for Double A Frisco to test his blistered right index finger.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Perez says Rangers miss Darvish, but still have job to do."