Blake Alexander Perkins (born September 10, 1996) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Washington Nationals

Perkins attended

Verrado High School Verrado High School is a public high school in the Verrado community of Buckeye, Arizona, United States. Operated by the Agua Fria Union High School District, the school primarily serves the Verrado area and is the fourth school in the distric ...

Buckeye, Arizona Buckeye is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is the westernmost suburb in the Phoenix metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census the population was 91,502, up from 50,876 in 2010 and 6,537 in 2000. It was the fastest-growin ...

. The

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

drafted Perkins in the second round, with the 69th overall selection, of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks ...

. Although an

Arizona State University Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

commit, Perkins chose to sign with the Nationals for an $800,000 bonus. After signing, Perkins made his professional debut with the

GCL Nationals The Florida Complex League Nationals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Washington Nationals, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Nationals. The ...

where he hit .211 with one home run and 12 RBIs in 49 games. At the conclusion of his rookie season, the Nationals asked Perkins to work on becoming a switch hitter. Perkins, a natural right-handed hitter, entered his next season adjusting to the steep learning curve of hitting left-handed for the bulk of his at-bats. He spent a majority of 2016 with the

Auburn Doubledays The Auburn Doubledays are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) that is located in Auburn, New York. From 1958 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) ...

, slashing .233/.318/.281 with one home run, 16 RBIs, and ten stolen bases in 59 games. He also played in seven games for the

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home g ...

at the end of the season. In 2017, Perkins was Hagerstown's starting center fielder and usual leadoff hitter, sharing an outfield with the likes of top Nationals prospects

Juan Soto Juan José Soto Pacheco (born October 25, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals. Soto signed with the Nation ...

and Daniel Johnson. Perkins was ranked by '' MLB Pipeline'' as the Nationals' 11th-best prospect entering the 2018 season, in which he started the year with the

Potomac Nationals The Potomac Nationals were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They were located in Woodbridge, Virginia, and played their home games at Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium. After the 2019 season, the team relocated to Fr ...

. Perkins batted .234 with one home run, 21 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases through 65 games at the new level.

Kansas City Royals

On June 18, 2018, during the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

All-Star Break, Perkins was traded to the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

along with

Kelvin Gutiérrez Kelvin Manuel Gutiérrez (born August 28, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball third basemen who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles. Career Washington Nation ...

and Yohanse Morel in exchange for Royals reliever

Kelvin Herrera Kelvin de Jesús Herrera Mercado (born December 31, 1989) is a Dominican Republic, Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals from 2011 to 2018, Washington Nationals in 20 ...

. He was assigned to the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

. In 64 games for the Blue Rocks, he batted .240 with two home runs, 18 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases. He returned to the Blue Rocks to begin 2019 and was promoted to the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The ...

in August. Over 122 games between both teams, he hit .224/.330/.347 with eight home runs, 34 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases. Perkins did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2021, Perkins returned to the Naturals, playing in 72 games and slashing .202/.319/.332 with 7 home runs, 30 RBI, and 9 stolen bases.

New York Yankees

On December 16, 2021, Perkins signed a minor league contract with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

organization. After not seeing the results he wanted as a switch hitter, Perkins had decided to go back to hitting right-handed full-time. The Yankees asked him to reconsider, and Perkins entered the season committed to continuing his switch-hitting journey. Perkins appeared in 101 games split between the Double-A

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, that is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League, known as the Double-A Northeast in 2021, and ...

and Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

, hitting a cumulative .246/.357/.456 with 15 home runs, 50 RBI, and 21 stolen bases. He elected free agency following the season on November 10, 2022.

Milwaukee Brewers

On November 23, 2022, Perkins signed a one-year, major league contract with the

. Perkins was optioned to the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

to begin the 2023 season. On April 19, 2023, Perkins was promoted to the major leagues for the first time after Garrett Mitchell suffered a shoulder injury.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Blake 1996 births Living people African-American baseball players Auburn Doubledays players Gulf Coast Nationals players Hagerstown Suns players Major League Baseball outfielders Milwaukee Brewers players Nashville Sounds players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players People from Litchfield Park, Arizona Baseball players from Maricopa County, Arizona Potomac Nationals players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Somerset Patriots players Wilmington Blue Rocks players