BIOGRAPHY
Roberto Pérez was born December 23, 1988, in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He is a catcher in the MLB.
In Pérez's first postseason at-bat of his major league career, he hit an opposite-field home run off the Boston Red Sox's Rick Porcello, helping the Indians to a 5-4 victory.In the first game of the 2016 World Series, Pérez hit two home runs in the 6-0 Indians win. Throughout the 2016 postseason, Pérez had the second-most RBIs (7), walks (7), and home runs (3) of any Indians player.
In 2019, Pérez established a number of career highs offensively, batting .239/.321/.452, while also being recognized for his defensive work. He revealed that he played through bone spurs in an ankle from April through the end of the season, noting that was "telling myself don’t quit. You waited for so long to play every day and now that you have the opportunity you cannot go down like this.” The batting average, SLG, and OPS (.774) were each career highs; he played in a career-high 119 games, and collected career-highs in each of hits (93), home runs (24), RBI (63), walks (45), strikeouts (127), and total bases (176).
On defense, Pérez led all American League (AL) fielders with 1,082 putouts. With 20 of 49 runners thrown out on attempted stolen bases, he led AL catchers in caught stealing percentage (40.9); he also led AL catchers with 12 double plays turned and accumulated a 29 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating to lead all major leagues catchers. Following the season, Pérez received his first each of the Fielding Bible Award, Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year for all fielders and at catcher. The Cleveland chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) named him the Bob Feller Man of the Year.
Pérez signed a one year deal with the Boston Red Sox for the 2024 season.