Roberto Andres Pérez (born December 23, 1988) is a Puerto Rican 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who is a free agent. He played college baseball for

Florida Gateway College Florida Gateway College (FGC), formerly Lake City Community College, is a public college in Lake City, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of the institutions in the system designated a "state college", allowing it to offer ...

. Pérez was drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in the 33rd round of the

2008 Major League Baseball draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2014, and has played in

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) for the Cleveland Indians and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. He has won two

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

s and two

Fielding Bible Award A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each fielding position in Major League Baseball (MLB) based on statistical analysis. John Dewan and Baseball Info Solutions conduct the annual selection process, which commenced in 2 ...

s, and was named the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year in 2019.

Early life

Pérez was drafted by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in the 29th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft out of Eugenio Maria De Hostos High School in

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

. He did not sign and attended

, for whom he played college baseball.

Career

Minor league career

Pérez was drafted by the

in the 33rd round of the

. He made his professional debut in 2009 with the AZL Indians, and also played for the Low-A

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were a M ...

and the Single-A

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following t ...

, and slashed .313/.411/.431 in 55 games between the three teams. In 2010, Pérez returned to Lake County, where he hit .217/.360/.339 with 6 home runs and 38 RBI. The following season, Pérez played for the High-A

Kinston Indians The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Ki ...

, posting a .225/.365/.310 slash line with 2 home runs and 30 RBI. In 2012, Pérez played for the Double-A

Akron Aeros The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,630 ...

, logging a .212/.336/.293 slash line with 1 home run and 31 RBI in 95 games. Pérez played while suffering from

bell's palsy Bell's palsy is a type of facial paralysis that results in a temporary inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side of the face. In most cases, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. Symptoms can vary fr ...

during the 2013 season while playing for Akron and the Triple-A

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

. Despite the condition, Pérez managed to play in 99 games and hit 2 home runs and 34 RBI to pair with a .200/.337/.286 slash line.

Cleveland Indians

Debut and early career (2014–2015)

Pérez was called up to the majors for the first time on July 8, 2014. He had his first major league hit two days later against 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 ...

. On July 10, 2014, Pérez hit his first career home run off of

pitcher Jim Miller. Pérez on May 23,2015 (1)

During part of the 2015 season, he became the primary catcher while

Yan Gomes Yan Gomes (; ; born July 19, 1987) is a Brazilian-American professional baseball catcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals and Oakland Ath ...

was on the disabled list. 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 Frederick Alfred Porcello III (born December 27, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets. Selected by the Tigers in the 2007 MLB ...

, helping the Indians to a 5–4 victory. In the first game of the

2016 World Series The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American Leag ...

, Pérez hit two home runs in the 6–0 Indians win. Throughout the 2016 postseason, Pérez had the second-most RBIs (7), walks (7), and home runs (3) of any Indians player.

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. In 2017 he batted .207/.291/.373. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, 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. Following the season, the Indians traded Gomes, opening an opportunity for Pérez to assume regular catching duties.

Multiple defensive awards (2019)

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, 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 An exostosis, also known as bone spur, is the formation of new bone on the surface of a bone. Exostoses can cause chronic pain ranging from mild to debilitatingly severe, depending on the shape, size, and location of the lesion. It is most commonl ...

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.” 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). On defense, Pérez led all

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) fielders with 1,082

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or ''fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

s. With 20 of 49 runners thrown out on attempted

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, he led AL catchers in

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder whil ...

percentage (40.9); he also led AL catchers with 12

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

s turned, and accumulated a 29 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating to lead all major leagues catchers. Following the season, Pérez received his first each of the

Rawlings Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

, and the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year for all fielders and at catcher. The Cleveland chapter of the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known fo ...

(BBWAA) named him the

Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...

Man of the Year. He underwent

arthroscopic Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the jo ...

surgery on October 17, 2019, to remove the bone spurs in his right ankle.

2020

Overall with the 2020 Cleveland Indians, Pérez batted .165 with one home run and five RBIs in 32 games. He was awarded the Fielding Bible and Gold Glove Awards for catching for the second year in a row. On October 30, 2020, the Indians exercised their club option on Pérez's contract for the 2021 season.

2021

On April 14, Chicago White Sox pitcher

Carlos Rodón Carlos Antonio Rodón (born December 10, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played MLB for the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants. Rodón is a two- ...

had a perfect game going by retiring the first 25 batters he faced. Perez was up to bat. On an 0–2 count, Rodón hit Pérez in the foot with a slider to break up the perfect game. Replays appeared to show that Perez made little effort in trying to avoid the pitch from hitting him. Rodón then retired the next 2 batters he faced to complete the no-hitter. In his post-game press conference, Pérez apologized for breaking up the perfect game saying, "To be honest, I really didn't think he had a perfect game until I got hit. I thought he had a no-hitter going on, but I really didn't think he had a perfect game. So it's hard, man. I'm not gonna try to stand there and get hit you know?" On May 23, 2021, Pérez was placed on the 60-day injured list as he continued to recovery from finger surgery. He was activated on July 3, and took the roster spot of

René Rivera René Rivera (born July 31, 1983) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Met ...

, who was designated for assignment. The Indians declined their club option on Pérez's contract for the 2022 season on November 5, 2021, making Pérez a free agent.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 1, 2021, Pérez signed a one-year contract with the

. In 2022 he batted .233/.333/.367.

International career

Pérez played for the Puerto Rican national team in the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

where he won a silver medal.

Personal life

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

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Roberto 1988 births Living people Cleveland Indians players Pittsburgh Pirates players Gold Glove Award winners Arizona League Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Lake County Captains players Indios de Mayagüez players Peoria Javelinas players Kinston Indians players Phoenix Desert Dogs players Akron Aeros players Columbus Clippers players People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Lake City Timberwolves baseball players Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball catchers 2017 World Baseball Classic players