Before Nick Madrigal wowed fans with his inability to strike out, Carlos Perez captured the contact lover's imagination in the Dominican Summer League in 2015. As an 18-year-old in his second crack at DSL pitching, Perez drew 22 walks to just five strikeouts over 191 plate appearances, which was a key part to his success that year (.333/.424/.438).
The past three years of stateside ball were a slog for Perez, but he began to show signs of his old hit tool with Kannapolis last season, hitting .290 over 78 games. Unfortunately, that came with just four walks. His 1.4 percent walk rate was one of the lowest in organized baseball, giving him an OBP of just .298. He also didn't slug enough (.395) to make an increase in his strikeouts (31) worth it.
But as a 22-year-old with Winston-Salem, he's giving Madrigal a run for his money. Perez has struck out just six times over his first 92 plate appearances, which is a poor man's Madrigal in that department (four over 125 plate appearances).
But here's the crazy thing:
- 2018: 286 PA, 4 BB, 31 K
- 2019: 92 PA, 11 BB, 6 K
Perez isn't slugging any better than his Kannapolis self, but his Winston-Salem slash line (.288/.370/.350) makes for a much more compelling OPS, even if it's only 27 points higher in total. Regaining that command of the strike zone gets him back to interesting, which is all you can hope for out of a $50,000 international signing.
Tennessee 5, Birmingham 1
- Luis Robert went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Laz Rivera was 3-for-4 with a double.
- Luis Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Gavin Sheets hit his third homer during a 1-for-4 night.
- Blake Rutherford was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jimmy Lambert: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Zack Burdi: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 WP
- Alec Hansen: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 11 of 21 pitches for strikes, two errant pickoffs.
More:
*Sheets' homer:
*The Tennessee webcast didn't have a radar gun, but between the broadcast and a few shots of the outfield radar gun on batted balls, Burdi threw a 93, a 94, two 95's and a 96.
*The White Sox promoted Blake Battenfield to Birmingham, which should delight the alliteration enthusiasts out there. Konnor Pilkington takes his place in Winston-Salem.
Kannapolis 10, West Virginia 7
- Lenyn Sosa went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two strikeouts.
- Romy Gonzalez went 3-for-5.
- Bryce Bush was 2-for-5 with a homer and a triple.
- Luis Curbelo, 1-for-5.
- Amado Nunez was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Davis Martin with a crazy line: 6 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 3 WP, 1 HBP
