The Revival of Roberto Perez

The Cleveland Indians may be without Yan Gomes, but the catcher position is in good hands. Here’s how Roberto Perez’s revival has made all the difference.

The pitch came in at about 92 miles per hour, a low heater from closer Cody Allen. Less than two seconds later, the ball popped into the glove of shortstop Francisco Lindor, right on the first base side of the bag about a foot above the ground, and Kansas City’s Terrance Gore slid into it, caught stealing. It was a pivotal point in a 4-3 win for the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night.

Behind the plate, Roberto Perez pumped his fist once, then a second time. He yelled something, obviously pleased with himself for throwing out one of the fastest men in the game. It was the first caught stealing of Gore’s young career after 17 consecutive successful swipes.

“I was pumped,” Perez said after the game. “Especially when you know no one had caught him stealing [before]. For me, I was able to throw him out. It was good for me and good for the team, too. I was just following the throw. It was right on the money. Lindor [made] a great tag. I knew I got him.”

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For the guy fans call “Robo,” it was just another example of how far he has come this season, and how the numbers and narratives of baseball don’t always tell the whole story.

Perez entered the season with 99 big league games under his belt, serving as Gomes’ primary backup beginning in the second half of 2014. His workload increased early in 2015 after Gomes’ suffered a knee injury, and he proved he was capable of being a serviceable MLB player.

In 262 career at-bats entering 2016, Perez hit just .237 with 13 doubles, seven home runs, and 23 runs batted in, which aren’t exactly eye-popping stats. But a closer look shows an on-base percentage of .336 thanks to 39 walks, and a wRC+ of 97, which is just below league average.

The real value for Perez, like most catchers, was in his glove, and he rated above average in basically all categories despite the limited playing time, according to FanGraphs’ catcher defense metrics.

This year, a broken right thumb at the end of April sidelined the 27-year old for all of May and June and about half of July. He had just started a minor league rehab assignment when Gomes was once again bitten by the injury bug, and was rushed back to the big league club.

Not being fully healthy and not having completed a proper rehab assignment showed in Perez’s performance, particularly at the plate. In his first month back, he went just 6-for-54 (.111) with just three doubles and no RBIs. In 70 at-bats since, he’s racked up 16 hits, with three doubles, two home runs, and 14 RBIs.

Perez has just a .178 batting average in total in 2016, but his on-base percentage is a healthy 100 points higher at .278, showing that he is still being patient at the plate and drawing free passes. But make no mistake about it, it’s what he does behind the plate that makes him such a valuable player to the Indians.

“We have a lot of faith in Roberto,” Tribe manager Terry Francona said. “He knows how to handle the pitching staff and our guys are really comfortable and him and Chris [Gimenez], too.”

As was on display Wednesday night, Perez is a base stealers’ worst nightmare. He has thrown out 50 percent of the runners who have attempted to steal this season, and has prevented countless others from even trying.

“I’m not putting any pressure on myself,” Perez said. “The big thing is to make sure the pitchers are doing well. That’s my biggest job.”

After Gomes, who wasn’t having a sterling season offensively himself, went down and the acquisition of Jonathan Lucroy from the Milwaukee Brewers at the July 31st trade deadline was  nixed, Cleveland looked to be in dire straits behind the dish. But, all the club needed was a little patience, which Perez is now beginning to reward.

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He may never win a Silver Slugger award like Gomes or Lucroy, but Perez is coming on strong at just the time the Indians need him to. With the postseason looming, the Tribe can rest assured that it’s pitching staff is in capable hands, and the Perez is not the liability with a bat in his hands that many around baseball seem to think.