Perez believes he’s tipping pitches, but Rangers want to see better execution

Left-hander Martin Perez seemed excited in the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse Saturday afternoon, the day after allowing seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. He believes he has struck on the reason for the rough start.

Perez said that he noticed on video that he might have been tipping pitches by the different ways his hand was positioned for a fastball and an off-speed pitch.

“It’s a big difference,” he said. “They’re supposed to be the same spot every time. I think it’s been happening a lot.”

Pitching coach Doug Brocail expressed some reservations, noting that the pitches Perez threw, tipped or not, could have been better.

“He may be tipping pitches, but everything hit last night was middle across the zone,” Brocail said. “You can tip and still get guys out, and you can not tip and throw the ball over the middle of the zone and not get hit. I don’t want anybody making excuses. I don’t want that to be a cop out that makes us not work hard in our next side session.”

Manager Jeff Banister echoed Brocail, but said that’s good if it makes Perez feel better. He’s searching after dropping to 5-10 with a 5.46 ERA.

This story was originally published August 5, 2017 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Perez believes he’s tipping pitches, but Rangers want to see better execution."