Martin Perez returns to the Rangers’ rotation Monday against the Red Sox with the help of a high-tech protective device to keep his broken right thumb safe inside his glove.
Okay, high-tech probably isn’t exactly accurate. Assistant hitting coach Justin Mashore fashioned the protective device out of the top of a plastic bottle, using medical tape on the cut part to protect Perez’s skin. The device is inserted into the thumb hole of Perez’s glove and his thumb fits inside the part of the bottle one typically drinks from. The hard plastic shell keeps the glove’s leather from making contact with his thumb.