Bucs Add Catching Depth With Claim of Perez
Now that Jacob Stallings has shown the ability to be an everyday catcher, the Pirates are in need of a quality back-up catcher. Last season, John Ryan Murphy did the job, but he and Like Maile have since been outrighted off of the 40-man roster. With a plethora of back-up catchers available on the market, the Pirates made their first move of the off-season claiming catcher Michael Perez off waivers. Perez has spent the last three seasons going up and down in the Tampa Bay Rays organization and is looking for his first shot full-time in the Big Leagues with a team and the Pirates might be the one to give him that shot.
Perez is and exceptional defensive catcher, posting fielding percentages above .995 in each of the last two seasons. He saw the most playing time of his career last season with the Rays, appearing in 38 games as a back-up to Mike Zunnino. He made the Rays post-season roster and helped them make it to the World Series. While he never had at-bat in the World Series, he ended up appearing in three World Series games for the Rays, including an appearance behind the plate in the decisive game six against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rays had to make some off-season moves to clear space on their 40-man roster and Perez was sent outright and the Pirates added a catcher with World Series experience to help their club.
From Snakes to Rays
Ever since he was drafted in the 5th round of the 2011 MLB Draft, he was a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. It took Perez several weeks to sign, and once he did he only appeared in seven games for the AZL Diamondbacks. He hit .217 that season and showed decent power hitting two home runs while driving in three RBI. He was back in rookie ball the next season and spent the next seven seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He kept his batting average in the mid .200s, but it was his defense that was off the charts good. He has a career fielding percentage of .990 in the Minor Leagues and has a cannon of an arm throwing out 38.4% of would be base stealers.
However, as Perez climbed the ladder, there was less room at the Major League level for him. In 2017, Perez was knocking on the Big League door hitting .284 with six home runs and 45 RBI. However, Chris Ianetta and Jeff Mathis were manning the position at the Major League level keeping Perez stuck at Triple-A. Perez was having similar success at the 2018 trade deadline once again hitting .284 with six home runs and 49 RBI. That is when the Rays swooped in trading RHP Matt Andriese to Arizona for RHP Brian Shaffer and Perez. Perez was immediately called up to the Big Leagues and served as the back-up catcher for the Rays.
He spent parts of 2019 with the Rays but bounced up and down between the Majors and Minor Leagues and hit just .217 with two RBI. The Rays slowed his return as well after suffering a hamstring injury in 2018 and he ended up appearing in just 22 games. As 2020 rolled around Perez was able to make his first opening day roster and stayed with the Rays all season. He hit .167 with one home run and 13 RBI while appearing in 38 games. It was the most action Perez has seen in his Major League career and he used his defense to stay on the roster. He had a .996 fielding percentage last season and committed just one error in 232 innings caught. He continued to keep the run game in check throwing out 31.5% of base runners and was used in some of the biggest situations possible.
His Role With The Pirates
With the signing of Michael Perez, and the outrighting of both John Ryan Murphy and Luke Maile, the back-up catchers role is up in the air for 2021. Jacob Stallings has already staked his claim as the Pirates starting catcher with a Gold Glove nomination in 2020. However, Perez will put some heat on the other two catcher as the Pirates come into Spring Training. Maile and Murphy are both not guaranteed a roster spot next season and will have to fight for that back-up job. It is a good problem for the Pirates to have as it adds more catching depth to an organization that desperately needs catching depth.
Perez may not be that fancy all-star signing that the top teams in the league make, but it is a good depth move for Ben Cherrington and his staff. I expect a lot of moves to go down this off-season, and this is the first of a flurry of moves that will be made during the 2020-2021 off-season. The Pirates have nowhere to go but up after a disappointing 2020 season, and Cherrington has a lot of work to do as he works towards building a winning club. The key will be stockpiling the system with young, controllable talent and the signing of Perez is the first step towards accomplishing that goal for 2021.
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