Last season Roberto Perez was one of the worst regulars in all of baseball, hitting .168/.256/.263 with 2 HR.
At the same time Yan Gomes, the Indians starting catcher, had a great year hitting .266/.313/.449 with 16 HR and getting his first All-Star selection.
This past off-season the Indians decided to sell high on Gomes and trade him to the Nationals, moving Perez into the starting role.
Weird decision for a team that was ostensibly a contender.
Now…I love Perez. He is maybe my favorite player in the big leagues. But he is the quintessential #2 catcher. His defense is great, but his bat has always been rough. There is no world that he should, I thought, be a contending team starting catcher.
- 2014-2017 Perez hit .216/.309/.362 and averaged 5 HR a season.
But the Indians must have known something the rest of us didn’t since this season…he really should have been selected to the All-Star team.
- In 2019 Perez is hitting .256/.343/.522 with 16 HR and an OPS+ of 122.
Shows what I know.