2020 NFL Draft Best Individual Skill Sets: Tight Ends
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March 16, 2020Opening Day for the 2020 Cleveland Indians might not be known as players were sent home from Spring Training on Friday due to the on-going worldwide response to COVID-19, but there are still stories to be told and players to be recognized as we prepare for the season; whenever that might begin.
When Tom Brady is capable of uttering the words “everybody thinks we suck and can’t win any games” without irony and follows them up with “the odds were stacked against us” after winning the AFC for the fourth time in five seasons on the way to his sixth Superbowl victory, the underdog term being met with a fair amount of cynicism by the sporting public is understandable. However, despite laughable assertions from dominant players on power franchises, true under-rated players deserving appreciation do continue to forcibly enter the collective consciousness of fanbases. Roberto Perez is one such player.
Just how big of an underdog is he? Well, 600 players have been selected in Round 33 of the MLB Rule IV amateur draft since 2000 with a mere 10 both signing1 and posting a positive-value career bWAR.2 Since 2008, when Perez was drafted in that round, only eight have even made it to The Show; Perez the lone player among them with a career bWAR above 0.6.3 Flowers is the current group leader in career bWAR, but projection models expect Perez to over-take the 34-year-old backup catcher this season.
Despite his draft status, Perez worked his way through the Indians minor league system at a steady one-level per season beat as he traversed through Mahoning Valley, Lake County, Kinston, Akron, and Columbus before his made his Cleveland Indians debut as a 25-year-old on July 10, 2014, against the New York Yankees. Perez would hit a home run that day and follow it up with a double in his next game, which was nine days later. He would only hit four more extra-base hits in 87 plate appearances over his remaining 27 games.
The defensive proficiency Perez exhibited allowed the franchise to rely upon him as the primary backup to Yan Gomes through 2015, which included a long stretch as a starter due to Gomes recovering from a sprained right knee after a home plate collision in April. In fact, he was rated as one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball by Baseball Prospectus.4 Perez’s playing time, however, would be tied to his proficiency with his bat and the health of Gomes.
The situation would repeat itself in 2016 when Gomes first separated his shoulder trying to avoid a tag/collision at first base in July, then broke his wrist when he was hit by a pitch during an Akron rehabilitation game.5 Perez would end up starting every single game of the 2016 postseason for a Cleveland Indians team that came as close to a World Series championship as any since the ballclub last won in 1948.
Perez only hit a slash line of .186/.300/.419 in those 15 games, but many of his eight hits were crucial. His third-inning home run in Game 1 of the ALDS off Boston Red Sox starter Rick Porcello gave the Tribe their first lead of the postseason, and one they would not relinquish. He had the only RBI in a Game 4 ALCS loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. And, of course, Perez will always have his four RBI, two-home-run Game 1 World Series performance against the Chicago Cubs. What even the most ardent supporters of the Indians often forget though is it was Roberto Perez’s single to begin the seventh inning of Game 3 that put pinch-runner Michael Martinez on base to eventually score when Coco Crisp registered his RBI hit in the Tribe’s 1-0 victory.
One reward for his success was being named onto the 2017 Puerto Rico World Baseball Classic roster behind super-star catcher Yadier Molina. His status on his national team would continue to be mirrored on his professional one though as he played another 135 games over the 2017 and 2018 seasons as the backup to Gomes.
Even trading Gomes to the Washington Nationals the offseason before the 2019 season led to questions of starting viability as Perez’s plate performance had dropped from slightly below average to abysmal the previous season. Another obstacle for the now 30-year-old catcher was he developed bone spurs in April; though the fans would not find out until after the season.
What did Perez do with the opportunity?
Well, at the plate, he hit 24 home runs, which was three more than he had hit in his entire 295 game career entering the season. Perez’s slash line of .239/.321/.452 included career-highs in batting average and slugging percentage as he finished the season as a league-average hitter.
Defensively, Perez would allow zero passed balls on the season despite catching 11 different starting pitchers and almost every imaginable style including sidearmer Adam Cimber, junk-baller Trevor Bauer, flame-thrower Mike Clevinger, and the ridiculous case of James Karinchak’s fastball-curve combination. Baseball Prospectus only had Austin Hedges above Perez in their defensive statistics. He finished with a higher Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) than any fielder at any position. Fielding Bible and Rawlings Gold Glove gave Perez their award for being the best defensive catcher in baseball, while Wilson one-upped them and handed Perez the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The 2020 Cleveland Indians have a ton of players well-worth rooting on. Francisco Lindor has dominated the offseason discussions, and Jose Ramirez is among the favorites for a bounce-back season to reclaim his own star status. Aces Shane Bieber and Mike Clevinger could compete for the AL Cy Young Award with Carlos Carrasco on the trail of his own comeback season. There is the power of Franmil Reyes alongside the hopefulness of potential in Oscar Mercado and Aaron Civale. Not to mention the steady production of veteran Carlos Santana.
Just don’t lose sight of the guy squatting behind the plate over 100 games this season, who doubles as the longest continual tenured player on the team.6 Roberto Perez, the true underdog.7
Roberto Perez Appreciation Articles
- T.J. Zuppe of Sports Illustrated breaks down the hitting profile; and how Perez might have even more success in 2020.
- Matt Provenzano of Beyond the Box Score details the defensive strength of Perez.
- Mandy Bell of indians.com reports on new health for Perez.
- Let’s Go Tribe featured Perez during their 2020 Indians catcher preview.
- Note: Tyler Naquin was a Round 33 pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2009 as a flier selection, didn’t sign, then was drafted by the Indians in Round 1 of 2012 and has provided 3.2 bWAR (so far). [↩]
- WAR as allocated by baseball-reference.com.
Trey Lunsford (0.1, 2000)
Chris Shelton (3.9, 2001)
Nyjer Morgan (6.8, 2003)
Mike Dunn (2.7, 2004)
Tyler Flowers (7.7, 2005)
Ryan Buchter (4.0, 2005)
Roberto Perez (6.9, 2008)
Daniel Robertson (0.6, 2008)
Jake Dunning (0.4, 2009)
Tyler White (0.5, 2013)
[↩] - Four players with negative or neutral bWAR not on the earlier list:
Brock Stassi (-0.3, 2011)
Steve Selsky (0.0, 2011)
Mike Hauschild (-0.2, 2012)
CD Pelham (-0.1, 2015) [↩] - Only Yasmani Grandal was rated better on a per inning basis though he was No. 17 overall with his cumulative score. [↩]
- Perez would be No. 8 overall in his defensive catching statistics from Baseball Prospectus and No. 3 when adjusted for per inning stats. [↩]
- Yes, Jose Ramirez debuted before Roberto Perez. However, Ramirez was sent down for an extended minor league stint in 2015. Perez’s only time in the minors since his debut was a three-game rehab assignment in 2016. [↩]
- Perhaps 2018 Round 33 selection Daniel Schneemann will surprise and warrant a similar article in 2030. [↩]