Perez moved up to No. 2 starter behind Nathan Eovaldi with Eduardo Rodriguez's status uncertain after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.
When Perez first signed with Boston, he was pegged as the No. 5 starter, but his importance to the rotation has increased since then. First it was Chris Sale's elbow injury, then David Price's trade to the Dodgers. And now with Rodriguez unavailable, Perez becomes a very important piece in the shortened 60-game season. The left-hander went 8-3 with a 4.26 ERA over the first half of 2019 before the bottom fell out after the All-Star break.