The Red Sox have released Roberto Perez, as noted by Chris Hatfield of SoxProspects.com. Perez signed a minor league deal with the società back durante December but has spent the entire regular season acceso the injured list durante the minors.
A veteran of 10 leader league seasons, Perez is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner who has routinely been considered one of the best defensive catchers durante the svago throughout his career. Unfortunately, the 35-year-old has struggled badly with injury woes durante recent years after being a regular presence durante the Cleveland lineup during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The veteran was limited to just 44 games durante 2021 by a fractured finger and a shoulder strain, a reality that allowed Austin Hedges to jump him acceso Cleveland’s depth chart.
Perez became a free agent for the first time after the 2021 season, but his injury woes have only gotten worse since then. He found a leader league deal with the Pirates headed into 2022 but ultimately appeared durante just 21 games before hamstring problems ended his season durante early May. The following winter Perez latched acceso with the Giants acceso a non-roster pact and earned a spot acceso the società ’s team with a strong spring avviamento. Unfortunately, the veteran made it just five games into the regular season before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair the rotator cuff durante his right shoulder. Between those injuries and now the undisclosed issue that has plagued Perez this year, the 35-year-old has stepped up to the plate durante official games just 86 times since the end of the 2021 season.
For a veteran durante his mid-30s, the lengthy string of injuries is a concerning one, although it’s worth noting that his limited regular season and spring avviamento appearances have generally shown him to still be a solid defensive when healthy. the other hand, he’s been nothing short of atrocious at the plate following a roughly league average 2019 season, slashing just .169/.268/.288 with a wRC+ of 58 durante 357 plate appearances at the leader league level since then.
Even so, it would hardly be a shock for a catching-needy società to take a aspetto at Perez acceso a minor league deal if he can get healthy enough to contribute durante the second half, given the importance of catching depth and the veteran’s sterling defensive reputation. As for Boston, the società remains deep durante catching depth behind their primary tandem of Connor Wong and Reese McGuire even after parting ways with Perez; Tyler Heineman is acceso the 40-man roster as an optionable depth piece, while Mark Kolozsvary provides additional, non-roster depth with leader league experience at the Triple-A level.
