I suggest that you begin your script with:

use strict;
use warnings;
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(immediately after the shebang...) and that you do so, forevermore, routinely.   This will tell Perl to detect many common typos and other mistakes.

I certainly agree 150% with your assessment of using Perl vs. using Bash.   Mind you, I am not “bashing bash” when I say that Perl has earned its reputation as “the Swiss Army® Knife of pragmatic computer programming.”   (One thing that can unquestionably be said about Mr. Larry Wall, and his many successors since that time, was that:   they knew what very-practical tool they needed, and they built it very well.)   Many folks are initially caught off-guard at first glance by what at first seems to be “loosey goosey” approach of Perl, but, the longer you look at it and consider it, the more wise it reveals itself to be.   (Aye, despite its inevitable warts.)   The time that you spend learning about this language, and delving into the vast CPAN library which supports it, is time that you will one day indeed have been very glad to have spent.