Roberto Pérez

Roberto Pérez (born December 23, 1988) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB).

For the former baseball player, see Robert Pérez (baseball).
Roberto Pérez
Pérez with the Cleveland Indians in 2019
Cleveland Indians – No. 55
Catcher
Born: (1988-12-23) December 23, 1988
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 10, 2014, for the Cleveland Indians
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.212
Home runs46
Runs batted in167
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  Puerto Rico
World Baseball Classic
2017 Los AngelesNational team

Early life

Pérez was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 29th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft out of Eugenio Maria De Hostos High School in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He did not sign and attended Florida Gateway College.[1]

Career
Pérez batting for the Lake County Captains, single-A affiliates of the Cleveland Indians, in 2010

Minor league career

Pérez was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 33rd round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. Pérez played while suffering from bell's palsy during the 2013 season.[1][2]

Debut and early career (2014–2015)

Pérez was called up to the majors for the first time on July 8, 2014.[3] He had his first major league hit two days later against the New York Yankees.[4]

On July 10, 2014, Pérez hit his first career home run off of New York Yankees pitcher Jim Miller.

Pérez with the Cleveland Indians, in 2015

During part of the 2015 season, he became the primary catcher while Yan Gomes was on the disabled list.[5][6][7] Toward the second half of the 2016 season, Pérez became the primary catcher, once again, in Gomes' spot.

World Series appearance (2016)

In Pérez's first postseason at-bat of his major league career, he hit an opposite-field home run off the Boston Red Sox's Rick Porcello, helping the Indians to a 5-4 victory.[8] In the first game of the 2016 World Series, Pérez hit two home runs in the 6-0 Indians win.[9][10] Throughout the 2016 postseason, Pérez had the second-most RBIs (7), walks (7), and home runs (3) of any Indians player.[11]

2017–2018

On April 2, 2017, the Indians signed Pérez to a four-year contract worth $9 million, with club options for the 2021 and 2022 season worth an additional $12.5 million.[12] In 2017 he batted .207/.291/.373.

In 2018, Pérez batted .168/.256/.263. He had the lowest batting average against right-handers among all MLB hitters (140 or more plate appearances), at .150.[13] Following the season, the Indians traded Gomes, opening an opportunity for Pérez to assume regular catching duties.[14]

Gold Glove, Fielding Bible, and Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2019)

In 2019, Pérez established a number of career highs offensively, batting .239/.321/.452, while also being recognized for his defensive work. He revealed that he played through bone spurs in an ankle from April through the end of the season, noting that was "telling myself don’t quit. You waited for so long to play every day and now that you have the opportunity you cannot go down like this.”[15] The batting average, SLG, and OPS (.774) were each career highs; he played in a career-high 119 games, and collected career-highs in each of hits (93), home runs (24), RBI (63), walks (45), strikeouts (127), and total bases (176).[16]

On defense, Pérez led all American League (AL) fielders with 1,082 putouts. With 20 of 49 runners thrown out on attempted stolen bases, he led AL catchers in caught stealing percentage (40.9); he also led AL catchers with 12 double plays turned,[17] and accumulated a 29 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating to lead all major leagues catchers.[18] Following the season, Pérez received his first each of the Fielding Bible Award,[19] Rawlings Gold Glove Award,[20] and the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year for all fielders and at catcher.[21] The Cleveland chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) named him the Bob Feller Man of the Year.[14]

He underwent arthroscopic surgery on October 17, 2019, to remove the bone spurs in his right ankle.[22]

2020

Overall with the 2020 Cleveland Indians, Pérez batted .165 with one home run and 5 RBIs in 32 games.[23] On October 30, 2020, the Indians exercised their club option on Pérez's contract for the 2021 season.[24]

International career

World Baseball Classic

Pérez played for the Puerto Rican national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic where he won a silver medal.[25]

Personal

Pérez has one star tattoo on each hand, representing his mother and his son. His mother's name is tattooed on his right wrist.[26]

References
  1. Bastian, Jordan (April 27, 2014). "Prospect Perez played through Bell's palsy". MLB.com. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  2. Massie, Jim (May 13, 2014). "Clippers: Bell's palsy catches Perez off guard". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  3. Bastian, Jordan; Shirkey, Alec (July 8, 2014). "Indians call up catcher Perez from Triple-A". MLB.com. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  4. Shirkey, Alec (July 10, 2014). "Replay gives Tribe's Perez first big league homer". MLB.com. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  5. Silva, Drew (April 12, 2015). "Yan Gomes placed on disabled list with right knee sprain". hardballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  6. "Yan Gomes out 6-8 weeks with MCL sprain". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc.(The Walt Disney Company, 80% Hearst Corporation, 20%). April 13, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  7. "Indians catcher Yan Gomes out at least 6 weeks with knee injury". foxsports.com. April 12, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  8. "Red Sox vs. Indians | 10/06/16". MLB.com. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  9. "Cubs vs. Indians | 10/25/16". MLB.com. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  10. Noga, Joe (October 26, 2016). "Roberto Perez's second HR ups Cleveland Indians' lead in Game 1 of World Series". cleveland.
  11. "Sortable Player Stats". Cleveland Indians. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  12. Meisel, Zack (April 2, 2017). "Cleveland Indians sign catcher Roberto Perez to long-term contract extension". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  13. "Splits Leaderboards | FanGraphs". www.fangraphs.com.
  14. Hoynes, Paul (November 10, 2019). "Cleveland baseball writers honor Roberto Perez, Carlos Carrasco with Man of the Year, Good Guy Awards". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  15. White, Parker (November 4, 2019). "Indians Catcher Roberto Perez Reveals He Fought Through Intense Ankle Pain Since April". 12up.com. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  16. "Roberto Pérez stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  17. "2019 American League fielding leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  18. "Major League Leaderboards » 2019 » Catchers » Fielding Statistics". Fangraphs. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  19. "Fielding Bible Award winners announced". MLB.com.
  20. Florjancic, Matthew (November 3, 2019). "Cleveland Indians SS Francisco Lindor, C Roberto Perez win AL Gold Glove Awards". WKYC. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  21. TSN.ca Staff (November 6, 2019). "Cleveland's Perez named overall Wilson defensive player of the year". The Sports Network. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  22. "Indians' Perez has surgery". The Vindicator. October 17, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  23. https://www.mlb.com/player/roberto-perez-547379?stats=career-r-hitting-mlb&year=2020
  24. Bell, Mandy (October 30, 2020). "Indians pick up Pérez's option but decline 3". Indians.com.
  25. Thornburg, Chad (February 8, 2017). "Young stars join Beltran, Yadi for Puerto Rico". MLB.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  26. Fagerstrom, August (May 8, 2015). "Tribe's Perez always has mom in his heart". MLB.com. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
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