Pirates A to Z: Roberto Pérez expected to provide pop, experience behind the plate

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, with the final week focusing on players added after the season ended.

Player: Roberto Pérez

Position: Catcher

Throws: Right

Bats: Right

Age: 32

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 220 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Pérez batted .149/.245/.319 with three doubles, seven home runs and 17 RBIs in 44 games for Cleveland.

Contract: Signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Pirates for 2022.

Acquired: Signed as a free agent on Dec. 1.

This past season: After moving into a starting role in 2019 and winning the AL Gold Glove in back-to-back years, Pérez endured a second consecutive season filled with injuries.

The most serious came on a cross-up with closer James Karinchak against the Chicago White Sox in April. Pérez was expecting a fastball but the ball broke instead and clipped his finger.

Pérez played through the pain, though it affected his handle while batting. He went 3 for 40 (.075), with a home run, a double and 19 strikeouts in the next 11 games before a second X-ray showed that he should have surgery. Cleveland placed Pérez on the 60-day IL.

“I’m a warrior,” Pérez told MLB.com. “I always find a way to stay on the field and be back there for these guys. But I just kept playing and sometimes swinging the bat — it was more swinging the bat than it was throwing. And then that’s when we found out like a week or two later that it was cracked.”

Pérez missed two months, returning on July 4. In 15 games over the next month, he batted .143 (7 for 49) with a double and three homers but struck out 17 times. The high strikeout rate (34.8% in 2021) has been a problem for Pérez, as he has more Ks than games played the past four seasons. He struck out a career-high 127 times in 119 games in 2019.

His 2020 season was shortened by a right shoulder sprain that limited Pérez to 32 games, and inflammation in his right shoulder sidelined him until Sept. 14.

Cleveland declined the $7 million option in the final year of Pérez’s five-year, $14.5 million contract, making him a free agent. The Pirates, after trading NL Gold Glove winner Jacob Stallings to the Miami Marlins for three players, signed Pérez to serve as a stopgap while they groom their catcher of the future, 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis.

AtMLB we would like to kindly remind you that Roberto Perez had a total of ZERO passed balls this season in 118 games.

Annndddd he led MLB in defensive WAR.

That is all. pic.twitter.com/zuQeOkTEXA

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 30, 2019

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said he was “excited” about signing Pérez, calling him an “excellent defender” who comes from an organization admired for its pitching development.

“He’s been a part of that for a long time,” Cherington said. “Certainly caught some great pitchers there. We like a lot about that part of his game. He’s known as fierce competitor, passionate. He comes from a long line of great Puerto Rican catchers, so continue that tradition.”

1st #WorldSeries game, TWO homers?! Go ahead, Roberto Perez!

The @Indians​ take Game 1. pic.twitter.com/wtJMhy3W73

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 26, 2016

The future: The Pirates didn’t have a catcher on their 40-man roster when they signed Pérez, just hours before owners implemented a lockout.

That makes Pérez the starter going into spring training. He will have competition from 2021 backup Michael Perez, who cleared waivers and was optioned to Triple-A; and Jamie Ritchie, a 28-year-old who was signed to a minor-league deal in November.

Cherington is hopeful that Pérez can return to his 2019 form, when he batted .239 with a .774 OPS and hit 24 home runs and had 63 RBIs in 119 games. That’s more homers than Stallings (17) has in his six-year career. Pérez has 53 homers in eight major league seasons, including four in the postseason.

Pérez homered twice against the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the 2016 World Series, joining Yogi Berra (1956), Gene Tenace (1972), Johnny Bench (1976) and Gary Carter (1986) to become only the fifth catcher to do so in major league history.

“There’s pop in the bat,” Cherington said. “Good offensive year in 2019, 2020 was down and then he was was banged up this year. We’re excited about getting him healthy and seeing what he can do offensively.”

The Pirates are more interested with how Pérez will handle and help their pitching staff. Like Stallings, he has a reputation as a great game caller. Pérez won the Wilson defensive player of the year award in 2019, when he led all catchers with 29 defensive runs saved.

That’s nine more than Stallings had this past season, which also led all catchers. With 76 career DRS, Pérez compares favorably to Stallings defensively but doesn’t hit his weight, strikes out more frequently and doesn’t get on base as often. Both are considered good guys in the clubhouse and community, so the Pirates have their fingers crossed that Pérez can stay healthy and be more productive at the plate.

“We feel good about him coming in and helping us behind the dish,” Cherington said of Pérez. “He’s his own player. He’s a unique personality, his own personality. But certainly some of the things he does well are similar to what Stalls did well.”