4 emerging superstars the Phillies may soon fear in the NL East

Eury Pérez

Moving to the mound, we look to Miami and see the Marlins' starting pitch depth as deep as ever. Already with Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, and Edward Cabrera, the youngest starting pitcher of them all, Eury Pérez, might just be the best of the bunch.

The towering 6-foot-8 right-hander announced his arrival last season. Debuting in May, he went on an impressive run of 11 starts, pitching to a 5-3 record with a 2.36 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and 10.29 K/9 — all at only 20 years old.

Pérez was sent down for an extended All-Star break in the minors to manage his innings, as he racked up 53 1/3 in his first taste of the majors. Before his trip to Triple-A, Pérez put up four quality starts in his final five outings, allowing only one run in those four games while striking out 31 batters.

When he returned to the big leagues, he wasn't as sharp over his final eight starts before getting shut down with a pelvic injury. While he ran a 4.26 ERA over his last six weeks of action, his crowning achievement was a six-inning, 10-strikeout, two-hit shutout over the Dodgers in Los Angeles in August.

Pérez features a sizzling fastball that sits 98 mph, a nasty 86 mph slider, an 81 mph curveball, and a 90 mph changeup. His full arsenal of quality pitches led him to a 33.7 percent whiff rate last season, in the 93rd percentile on Statcast rankings.

If you're wondering how good this kid is actually going to be, you don't have to look very far to find an answer. Baseball America recently published their updated dynasty pitcher rankings for fantasy baseball, and Pérez takes the No. 4 spot among some impressive company, right behind Shohei Ohtani, Spencer Strider, and Gerrit Cole.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, it looks like this young stud will be around for a long time.