(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Puerto Rican catcher Roberto Perez signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox for the 2024 regular season, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on December 13.
Perez will also be invited to Spring Training camp with the Red Sox prior to the start of the 2024 regular season, Chris Cotillo of Mass Live.com stated on December 13.
Perez, 34, was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and has played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, elected free agency on November 2.
Last season, Perez was with the San Francisco Giants and landed on the 60-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain after playing the first-five games of the 2023 regular season. Perez had 17 plate appearances and batted .133 with two hits, one RBI, two walks and six strikeouts before landing on the 60-day injured list.
In 2022, Perez played with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 21 games with 69 plate appearances batting .233 recording 14 hits, two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, nine walks, and 25 strikeouts prior to landing on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain on May 7, 2022.
Perez would later be transferred to the 60-day injured list on May 11, 2022 with his left hamstring strain, which kept him out for the remainder of the 2022 regular season.
During the 2021 regular season, Perez played in 44 games with the Cleveland Indians 161 plate appearances batting .149 recording 21 hits, three doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBI, 17 walks, 56 strikeouts and a .564 OPS during his last season with the franchise. Perez was injured with a right ring finger fracture on May 5, 2021 and landed on the 60-day injured list prior to being activated on July 3, 2021.
Perez suited up in several rehab assignments during the 2021 regular season in the Indians organization with Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus in 15 games batting .211 with 46 plate appearances recording eight hits, two doubles, six RBI, seven walks, and 10 strikeouts.
Perez was drafted by the Indians in the 33rd round in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft and spent 12 seasons with the organization when he made his professional debut on June 19, 2009 in the New York-Penn League Class-A Short Season with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and was later transferred to the Arizona Complex League level on June 26, 2009.
In 10 seasons in the MLB, Perez has played in 516 games with 1,769 plate appearances hitting .207 smacking 314 hits, 57 doubles, four triples, 55 home runs, 193 RBI, 192 walks, 527 strikeouts, and a .656 OPS.
Perez has caught 506 games and 471 starts with 4,091 innings, 4,632 chances, 4,415 putouts, 243 assists, 24 errors, .995 fielding percentage, and a 38% caught stealing percentage.
The Red Sox have two catchers on their 40-man roster in Connor Wong and Reese McGuire that will battle with Perez for the backup catcher role and active roster spot for the 2024 regular season.
The Red Sox first Spring Training game is on February 23 against the UCONN Huskies NCAA Division I program at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, FL. No game start time has been announced for the first spring training game.
The Red Sox will open up the 2024 regular season on the road against the Seattle Mariners at 10:10 p.m. EDT on March 28.