Carlos Jesús Pérez (born September 10, 1996) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the Rieleros de Aguascalientes of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, with whom he made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Chicago White Sox

Pérez signed with the

as an international free agent in March 2014. He made his professional debut that season with the Dominican Summer League White Sox and also played with the team in 2015. Pérez spent 2016 with the Arizona League White Sox,

Great Falls Voyagers The Great Falls Voyagers are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Great Falls, Montana, and play their home games at Cente ...

and

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte, and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. ...

. He played 2017 with Great Falls, 2018 with Kannapolis and 2019 with the

Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games ...

. Pérez 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He returned in 2021 to play for the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

and

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

. He returned to Charlotte to start 2022. On August 21, 2022, Pérez was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time after Yasmani Grandal was placed on the 10-day injured list. On August 27, Pérez collected his first career hit, a single off of

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

starter

Merrill Kelly Kenneth Merrill Kelly (born October 14, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on April 1, 2019. Kelly formerly played for the SK Wyverns of the KBO Le ...

. Pérez was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to begin the 2023 season after losing the backup catcher job to Seby Zavala. In 27 games for the White Sox, he hit .204/.264/.347 with one home run and three RBI. On December 30, 2023, Pérez was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by Chicago to make room on the active roster for the signing of Chris Flexen. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple–A Charlotte on January 4, 2024. Pérez spent the 2024 season with Charlotte, playing in 100 games and batting .273/.312/.430 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI. He elected free agency following the season on November 4.

Rieleros de Aguascalientes

On January 20, 2025, Pérez signed with the Rieleros de Aguascalientes of the

International career

Pérez was named to the

Venezuela national baseball team The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Venezuela'' or ''Selección de Venezuela)'' is the national team of Venezuela. It is currently ranked third in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, b ...

for the

2024 WBSC Premier12 The 2024 WBSC Premier12 was the 3rd edition of the WBSC Premier12, a baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Originally scheduled for 2023, but de ...

. He was named to the All-World Team as the best first baseman.

Personal life

Pérez's brother, Carlos Eduardo Pérez, also played in MLB for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

, Texas Rangers, and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Carlos 1996 births Living people Arizona League White Sox players Baseball players from Valencia, Venezuela Birmingham Barons players Bravos de Margarita players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Dominican Summer League White Sox players Great Falls Voyagers players Kannapolis Intimidators players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Winston-Salem Dash players