Fort Wayne shuffles roster again

Henry Perez, originally slated to join the Fort Wayne Wizards to start the year, has officially joined the team. Perez replaces Jake Upwood who was sent back to extended spring training.

Left-hander Jake Upwood was sent to the San Diego Padres extended Spring Training and right-hander Henry Perez was called up from extended Spring Training, the Fort Wayne Wizards and Padres announced Monday.

Perez is in his fifth season with the Padres organization. He was signed as a non-drafted free agent in July of 1999. He spent the 2003 season with the Eugene Emeralds in the Northwest League and went 4-2 with a 4.25 earned run average in 15 starts. Perez was second in the league in starts and in 72 innings he struck out 54 and walked 31. He led the Idaho Falls Padres with 70 strikeouts in 2002 and was second in the Pioneer League in 2002 with 82 strikeouts.

Upwood appeared in 18 games out of the bullpen for the Wizards and went 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA. In 20 innings he walked 11 and struck out 16. In his last appearance, Upwood gave up two runs on three hits. In total, he gave up runs in five of his 18 appearances. Upwood was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2003.