Juan Carlos Pérez (born November 13, 1986) is a Dominican former 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 ...

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 catch ...

. He 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

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

with the club in 2014.

Early life

Juan Carlos Pérez was born on November 13, 1986, in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Pérez attended

DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...

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, and after not being selected in the

Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

, he attended Western Oklahoma State College.

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

Minor leagues

The

drafted Pérez in the 13th round, with the 387th overall selection, of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. On November 20, 2012, the Giants added Pérez to their

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 ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

Major leagues

Pérez made his MLB debut for the Giants on June 9, 2013 at a game against the

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 ...

. Pérez played in six games and received 14 at-bats during the 2014 World Series. He was chosen to start Game 7 in left field over newly-converted first baseman Travis Ishikawa, due to his superior defense. In that game, Pérez made an impressive running catch near the foul line in the fifth inning to rob Norichika Aoki of a double. The catch preserved a 3–2 lead, and Giants eventually won the game and the World Series. In 2015, Pérez played in 22 games, slashing .282/.300/.359 with no home runs and 2 RBI. On November 6, 2015, he was outrighted off of the 40-man roster and became a free agent. After the 2015 season, he was selected to the roster for the

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2 ...

at the 2015 WBSC Premier12.

Chicago Cubs

On December 21, 2015, Pérez signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

organization. He spent 2016 with the Triple–A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

, where he batted .276/.310/.444 with nine home runs, 57 RBI, and 16 stolen bases across 117 contests. Pérez elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2016.

Detroit Tigers

On December 14, 2016, Pérez signed a minor league contract with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

that included an invitation to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. He was released on August 8, 2017.

Acereros de Monclova

On April 23, 2018, Pérez signed with the Acereros de Monclova of the

Mexican Baseball 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 was released on May 4. Pérez re-signed with the team on July 27.

Rieleros de Aguascalientes

On July 16, 2019, Pérez was traded to 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 was released on January 24, 2020. In 28 games he hit .321/.392/.509 with 4 home runs and 17 RBI. After the 2020 season, Pérez played for

Águilas Cibaeñas The Águilas Cibaeñas (; ''Cibaoan Eagles'') is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Republic's Professional Baseball League (LIDOM), based in Santiago in the northern region of Cibao. Founded in , the team has won six Caribbean Series ...

of the

Dominican Professional Baseball League The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League ( or LIDOM) is a professional baseball winter league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played in the Dominican Repub ...

(LIDOM). He has also played for Dominican Republic in the 2021 Caribbean Series.

Olmecas de Tabasco

On April 20, 2021, Pérez signed with the High Point Rockers of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. However, prior to the ALPB season on May 15, his contract was purchased by the Olmecas de Tabasco of the

. In 62 games, Pérez slashed .292/.371/.388 with 1 home run and 27 RBIs. He was released following the season on October 20.

Charleston Dirty Birds

On April 12, 2022, Pérez signed with the Charleston Dirty Birds of the

. In 44 games, Pérez batted .298/.352/.494 with 5 home runs and 28 RBI. He became a free agent following the season. On June 20, 2023, Pérez re–signed with the Dirty Birds. In 73 games for Charleston, he hit .282/.346/.440 with 8 home runs and 51 RBI.

Coaching career

On June 26, 2024, Pérez was announced as the head coach for The Vine Christian Academy in

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a principal city of the Greater Orlando, O ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Juan 1986 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players Águilas Cibaeñas players Augusta GreenJackets players Charleston Dirty Birds players DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Republic national baseball team players Fresno Grizzlies players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Mexican League baseball center fielders Mexican League baseball right fielders Olmecas de Tabasco players Baseball players from Santiago de los Caballeros Richmond Flying Squirrels players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players Toledo Mud Hens players Western Oklahoma State Pioneers baseball players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players