The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Opportunity is here for Perez
Catcher wants to ‘prove the doubters wrong’ and be an everyday starter
Indians catcher Roberto Perez is heading to spring training in Goodyear, Ariz.,, next month with one mission in mind.
Indians catcher Roberto Perez is heading to spring training in Goodyear, Ariz., next month with one mission in mind.
“I want to prove the doubters wrong,” the 30-year-old Puerto Rican said in the Indians’ clubhouse on Jan. 11.
Perez is no longer the guy who catches when Trevor Bauer starts or when Yan Gomes needs a day off. Now he is the Indians’ primary catcher because Gomes was traded to the Nationals on Dec. 1 for right-handed pitcher Jefry Rodriquez, minor-league outfielder Daniel Johnson and minor-league infielder Andruw Monasterio.
It is a trade the Indians hope pays off in the future rather than in immediate returns.
Meanwhile, the Tribe hopes Perez can replace Gomes, not just behind the plate but at the plate. Gomes hit .266 last season with 16 home runs and 48 RBI in 403 at-bats over 112 games.
Perez hit an anemic .168 in 62 games. He homered twice and drove in only 19 runs in 179 atbats, so the doubters have reason to doubt. Perez believes with more opportunities his average will climb and his production will increase. In fact, he was playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic to sharpen his skills the day Gomes was traded.
“I went to the Dominican to get more at-bats and prove to the organization and other people I could hit.”
— Indians catcher Roberto Perez
“I heard rumors, but I was very surprised when he was traded,” Perez said. “I was in the middle of a game when they told me.
“I knew if he was traded I would get more playing time, but to be honest I wasn’t focused on that. I went to the Dominican to get more at-bats and prove to the organization and other people I could hit. Playing every day, you get consistent at-bats. You get live pitching every day. It’s not like playing once a week when you do too much because it’s the only opportunity you’re going to get.”
The Indians traded right-handed pitcher Walter
Lockett and infielder Sam Haggerty to the Mets on Jan. 7 for catcher Kevin Plawecki, who played in 78 games with the Mets last season with 64 starts and hit .201 with 30 RBI.
Eric Haase will also be in Goodyear for spring training. The Indians will likely keep two catchers on the big-league roster when they break camp in late March.
“Exactly how we split that playing time remains to be seen as we get into spring training,” Indians president Chris Antonetti said when the Plawecki trade was made. “But we felt (trading for Plawecki) was an opportunity to acquire another major-league catcher that could help absorb some of the burden in losing Yan. I anticipate that Roberto would get the
bulk of the playing time. But again, we’ll have to see how things play out during the season.”
Perez threw out 9 of 36 would-be base stealers with the Indians last season. Plawecki threw out 16 of 70 with the Mets.
The Indians have been quiet on the trade front since acquiring Plawecki, but with nearly a month before the start of spring training (pitchers and catchers report Feb. 12) there is still plenty of time for Antonetti to make a deal. John Morosi of MLB. com keeps pushing the Corey Kluber to the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres trade rumors, but things seem quiet for now.
“It would be more concerning to me if our players weren’t being rumored,
because that would mean we wouldn’t have players that other teams wanted to acquire,” Antonetti said during an interview
on WKYC at Tribe Fest on Jan. 12. “And so when you’re in the position that we are as an organization where we have
a lot of players at the major-league level and at the minor-league level that other teams want, it leads to a lot of conversation between teams. That’s actually a healthy thing, as uncomfortable as it might be as we’re going through it.”
Earlier in the offseason, the Indians traded designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle in the deal that returned Carlos Santana to the Tribe. They traded first baseman Yonder Alonso to the White Sox for minorleague outfielder Alex Call. Yandy Diaz was traded to Tampa Bay for outfielder/ first baseman Jake Bauers as part of the Encarnacion trade and infielder Erik Gonzalez was traded to the Pirates for outfielder Jordan Luplow.