Another day of free agency and it’s another infielder that signs with the Cincinnati Reds. 10-year big league veteran Hernan Perez signed a minor league deal with the club this week.
It’s been two years since Hernan Perez was last in the big leagues – he played in 10 games with the Washington Nationals in 2021. Perez began his career in Detroit when he made his debut with the Tigers in 2012. He then played in parts of the next 10 seasons in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Nationals, and Brewers. His best season came back in 2016 with Milwaukee when he hit .272/.302/.428 with 34 stolen bases.
After only playing in 13 games between the 2020 and 2021 seasons at the big league level he began the 2022 season playing in the Mexican League with Tijuana. His stay there lasted less than a week before Atlanta picked him up on a minor league deal and sent him to join their Triple-A team in Gwinnett. This past season he played in the Twins organization with their Triple-A team in St. Paul where he hit .279/.351/.485 with 10 home runs. You can see his career stats here.
This fall and winter Hernan Perez has been playing with Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. In 38 games he’s hitting .293/.379/.451 with 19 walks and 21 strikeouts in 161 plate appearances.
Cincinnati has added a lot of depth in the upper level of their minor leagues so far this offseason. Hernan Perez gives them yet another option to have in Triple-A if injuries result in the need for someone to come up and help fill out the bench with the Reds. During the 2023 season in the minor leagues he played first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and left field. In past seasons he’s also played center, right, and he’s even pitched 9.1 innings. At least from a defensive standpoint, he’s got you covered just about everywhere.
Reds sign NCAA home run record holder
In another minor league signing, though quite different from the one of Perez, Cincinnati signed catcher John Michael Faile this week. The 23-year-old went undrafted and signed to play with the now independent league Billings Mustangs. He finished 8th in the league in home runs despite playing in just over half of the season.
That’s not too surprising because Faile is the NCAA Division II all-time home run leader with 81 homers. He’s also the all-time RBI leader with 337 in his five seasons at North Greenville. He followed that up with Billings this summer and hit .353/.414/.761 with 21 home runs in 54 games.