Roberto Perez

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2009
R:  351/438/511, 131 AB, 12 2B, 3 HR, 16 BB, 28 K, 4-5 SB
A-:  214/267/286, 14 AB, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 K
A:  240/381/260, 50 AB, 1 2B, 8 BB, 19 K, 0-1 SB

The Indians sent Perez initially to the New York-Penn League, then moved him to the rookie-level Arizona League after a few games.  In mid-August they moved him up to Low-A.  He had little trouble against the pitchers in rookie ball, but considerably more at the higher levels.  He threw out a combined 36% of base stealers.

2010
A:  217/360/339, 378 AB, 22 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 80 BB, 88 K, 1-3 SB

Perez spent the season in Low-A.  Apart from drawing a great many walks, he struggled at the plate.  He threw out 40% of base stealers.

2011
A+:  225/365/310, 284 AB, 16 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 62 BB, 79 K, 1-1 SB

In High-A, Perez continued to struggle to hit, apart from still drawing a lot of walks.

2012
AA:  212/336/293, 283 AB, 16 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 49 BB, 67 K, 0-1 SB

Perez continued hitting as he had the last two years, this time in AA.  He did throw out 41% of base stealers and was voted the Eastern League’s best defensive catcher.

2013
AA:  247/453/376, 93 AB, 6 2B, 2 HR, 32 BB, 25 K, 1-2 SB
AAA:  176/269/241, 187 AB, 12 2B, 22 BB, 59 K, 0-1 SB

The Indians shuffled Perez back and forth between AA and AAA for a while, but in mid-June moved him up to AAA for good.  He improved at the plate in AA, with an outlandish walk rate, but was overmatched in AAA, as the pitchers obviously had less trouble throwing him strikes.

2014
AAA:  305/405/517, 174 AB, 11 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 29 BB, 51 K, 1-1 SB
MLB:  271/311/365, 85 AB, 5 2B, 1 HR, 5 BB, 26 K

Back in AAA, Perez suddenly started to hit well.  That got him a July callup and he stayed in the majors the rest of the season.  His hitting in Cleveland was respectable, at least.

2015
MLB:  228/348/402, 184 AB, 9 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 33 BB, 64 K

Perez stayed with Cleveland all year.  He was mainly the backup to Yan Gomes, but he spent some time as the starter when Gomes was hurt.  At the plate, he started to show more power while continuing to draw walks.  He threw out 42% of base stealers.

2016
R:  333/571/333, 9 AB, 5 BB, 1 K
A:  000/333/000, 2 AB, 1 BB
AAA:  400/571/600, 5 AB, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
MLB:  183/285/294, 153 AB, 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 23 BB, 44 K

Perez was slated to share the catching duties with Gomes again, but a thumb injury cost him all but a dozen games until August.  By then, Gomes was hurt and Perez was the starter the last two months.  He didn’t hit much, although the aftermath of the thumb injury could account for that.  He threw out half of the runners who tried to steal on him.

2017
MLB:  207/291/373, 217 AB, 12 2B, 8 HR, 26 BB, 71 K, 0-1 SB

At the beginning of the season, Perez signed a four-year contract extension, running through 2020, with club options for 2021 and 2022.  On the field, he continued to back up Gomes.  He showed some power at the plate but otherwise didn’t do much.  He threw out 43% of base stealers.

2018
MLB:  168/256/263, 179 AB, 9 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 21 BB, 70 K, 1-1 SB

Still backing up Gomes, Perez collapsed at the plate.

2019
MLB:  239/321/452, 389 AB, 9 2B, 1 3B, 24 HR, 45 BB, 127 K

With Gomes gone, Perez became the principal catcher.  He had a career year at the plate and won the Gold Glove.  He didn’t commit a passed ball all year and threw out 41% of base stealers.

2020
MLB:  165/264/216, 97 AB, 2 2B, 1 HR, 11 BB, 38 K

In the pandemic season, Perez really collapsed at the plate.  It didn’t affect his defense, as he won another Gold Glove by throwing out 71% (10-of-14) of base stealers and again committing no passed balls.

2021
AA:  357/400/500, 14 AB, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 K
AAA:  125/290/125, 24 AB, 6 BB, 7 K
MLB:  149/245/319, 141 AB, 3 2B, 7 HR, 17 BB, 56 K, 1-1 SB

Injuries hampered Perez for much of the season.  He missed about two months with a fractured finger, then was out from early August until mid-September with shoulder inflammation.  When he played, he didn’t hit at all.  In fact, his hitting was remarkably similar to the dismal season Michael Perez had for the Pirates.  It’s possible the injuries played a role, but Perez’ hitting for most of his major league career suggests that 2019 was an outlier.  He threw out only 16% of base stealers, but apart from a small sample size the injuries could have played a role.  Perez became a free agent after the season when Cleveland declined his option.  The Pirates signed him immediately after trading Jacob Stallings.

2022
MLB:  233/333/367, 60 AB, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 BB, 25 K

Perez took over for Stallings as the Pirates’ regular catcher.   He figured to be similar to Stallings, except probably not quite as good.  Perez played fairly well in the early season, providing a reasonable approximation to Stallings, but on May 7 he suffered a hamstring injury.  It required surgery, ending his season.

Perez was an obvious injury risk, but Ben Cherington didn’t bother to find a legitimate backup catcher during the offseason.  As a result, Perez’ injury left the Pirates with a dismal situation behind the plate.  They were expected to try to re-sign Perez for 2023, but once the season ended some doubts started to arise, as they always do with the extraordinarily cheap Pirates.