Félix Pérez

Félix Pérez Cardoso (El Nino)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 190 lb.
• Born November 14, 1984 in Isla de la Juventud Cuba

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Félix Pérez won a MVP in Mexico and a finals MVP in Venezuela.

Pérez debuted for Isla de la Juventud in 2005-2006, hitting .246/.291/.359 and pitched briefly (5 BB, 4 R in 3 2/3 IP). In 2006-2007, he pitched worse (5 H, 2 R in 1 2/3 IP) and hit .287/.344/.345. He hit .257/.351/.384 in 2007-2008. He finished among the Cuban Serie Nacional leaders only in negative areas: caught stealing (11, 1st, despite only 5 steal successes), double play grounders (23, tied for second with Joan Carlos Pedroso) and strikeouts (57, tied for 7th with Yosvani Lazo). He then defected from Cuba, with his career batting line there an unimpressive .264/.337/.366 in a hitter-friendly environment.

Signed by the Cincinnati Reds (Richard Jimenez was the scout), the Cuban has hit over .300 twice in his first four seasons in the USA. He split 2010 between the DSL Reds (.429/.486/.587, 14 RBI in 16 G), the Lynchburg Hillcats (.338/.397/.462 in 16 G) and the Carolina Mudcats (.266/.325/.360 in 35 G), for a composite .322 average. He made 8 errors in 2011 for Carolina while hitting .257/.298/.361; he was also 7 for 34 with two walks and a homer for the Louisville Bats. His 8 errors were two shy of Southern League leader Kevin Mattison. He hit .301/.348/.401 for Louisville in 2012 and had 16 assists, one behind leader Brett Carroll. The singles hitter was 6th in the 2012 International League in average, between Kevin Frandsen and Justin Henry. He hit .277/.327/.390 for the Aguilas del Zulia in the 2012-2013 Venezuelan League; he led the league in times caught stealing (7 or 8 out of 10 tries, depending on the source). He improved to .327/.386/.429 in the postseason.

He fielded .995 for Louisville in 2013 and had 9 assists; he batted .262/.315/.385. Back with Zulia, he batted .260/.337/.447 with 7 home runs in the regular season. In 122 games for Louisville in 2014, Perez hit .280/.325/.450 with 12 home runs and 74 RBI. He was 8th in the 2014 International League in RBI. With the Leones del Caracas that winter, he batted .360/.393/.572 with 9 home runs and 38 RBI in 56 games. He was second in the Venezuelan League in average (.012 behind Odubel Herrera), was 8th in OBP, ranked 2nd in slugging (.039 behind Alex Gonzalez), was 3rd in OPS (after Gonzalez and Herrera), was second with 40 runs (3 behind Ali Castillo), led with 80 hits (3 over Herrera), tied Niuman Romero for 2nd in doubles (16), tied Gonzalez for 3rd in home runs, tied Balbino Fuenmayor for 5th in RBI and led with 127 total bases (12 over Herrera). He was named MVP of the finals as well. He hit .176/.300/.294 in the 2015 Caribbean Series.

He played for the Sultanes de Monterrey in 2015 and hit .312/.390/.580 with 20 home runs and 70 RBI in 94 games. He was 3rd in the Mexican League in slugging (behind only Japhet Amador and Jorge Cantú), 5th in OPS, 9th in doubles and tied for 8th in home runs (with Hector Gimenez). He played for Caracas again that winter and produced at a .332/.425/.545 clip with 20 doubles in 55 games. He was 8th in average (between Gorkys Hernández and José Osuna), 4th in OBP (between Alex Cabrera and Mario Lissón), 3rd in slugging (after Cabrera and Rangel Ravelo), 3rd in OPS (after Ravelo and Cabrera), led in doubles (3 over José Martínez), tied Gonzalez for 8th in home runs, tied Brian Burgamy and Eliezer Alfonzo for 7th in RBI (34) and tied for 4th in walks. He again supplemented another team in the Caribbean Series, this time joining the Tigres de Aragua. He hit .200/.407/.200 with 7 walks in six games to lead the Series (two over Alex Romero). He also made a couple errors at first, including a crucial one with a two-run lead in the 7th inning of the finale against Mexico's Venados de Mazatlán that enabled them to score the tying run en route to a comeback win.

He played for Monterrey and the Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2016, hitting .304/.371/.543 with 19 home runs and 68 RBI between them - only .244/.286/.442 with 5 HR in 22 G for Rakuten, .315/.391/.562 with 14 HR in 64 G for Monterrey. With Monterrey in 2017, he batted .284/.359/.500 with 6 home runs and 23 RBI in 28 games. He spent the winter in Caracas and hit .271/.366/.472 with 39 RBI in 56 games. He tied David Vidal for 5th in homers (8), was 8th in RBI and was 9th in slugging (between Andrés Blanco and Vidal).

The Mexican League went to a two-season format in 2018. He hit .271/.369/.531 with 15 homers and 48 runs in 57 games for the Rieleros de Aguascalientes in the spring season. He tied Jorge Flores for 4th in runs and won the home run title by two over Ricky Alvarez, Jesse Castillo and Luis Juárez. In the fall, he played for Aguascalientes (.345/.405/.655, 10 HR, 33 RBI in 28 G) and the Sultanes de Monterrey (.296/.341/.609, 27 RBI in 27 G). He won his second home run title in a year, 4 ahead of Dustin Geiger. He also tied Francisco Peguero for the most RBI.

Félix played in two other countries that winter, batting .353/.441/.608 in 14 games for Caracas and .203/.266/.322 in 16 for the Águilas Cibaeñas. In 2019, he hit .308/.389/.644 with 30 long balls and 94 RBI in 89 games for the Sultanes. He tied Yamaico Navarro and Jose Vargas for 8th in homers and was 9th in slugging (between Michael Wing and Leandro Castro). Monterrey also fielded a Mexican Pacific League team that winter and he hit .271/.352/.439 with 10 homers and 48 RBI in 69 games for them. He tied Paulo Orlando and Sebastián Elizalde for 4th in circuit clouts, was second in RBI (9 behind fellow Cuban Dariel Álvarez).

In 2020, the Mexican League season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Baseball returned to Mexico that winter and he played for the Águilas de Mexicali and Yaquis de Obregón, hitting a combined .221/.302/.490 with 11 homers and 28 RBI in 40 games (per MLB.com; BR register gives slightly different stats). He tied for second in homers (4 behind Amador). He had an even rougher time with the Bravos de León in the 2021 Mexican League, at .200/.324/.400 with only three homers in 17 games. At age 36, it looked like it might be the end of the road - but he would rebound. That winter, he hit .259/.346/.448 with 11 HR and 46 RBI in 56 games for the Charros de Jalisco. He placed second in home runs (six behind Kyle Martin), second in RBI (one behind Joey Meneses) and 9th in slugging (between Elizalde and Yadir Drake). In the 2022 Caribbean Series, he batted .263/.364/.579. His solo shot off Porfirio López was the only run in Jalisco's victory over the champion Caimanes de Barranquilla. In another 1-0 win, he was 2 for 2 with two walks. He was second in the Series in slugging, trailing only Reynaldo Rodríguez. He was named the event's All-Star left fielder, joining José Siri and Danry Vásquez in the outfield. He was the only Jalisco player to make the All-Star team.

The veteran slugger produced at a .323/.400/.728 rate with 38 homers and 109 RBI in 87 games for the 2022 Toros de Tijuana. He was among the leaders in homers (tied Rainel Rosario for first), RBI (2nd, 7 behind Rosario), slugging (3rd, behind Rosario and Henry Urrutia) and OPS (6th, between Alberth Martínez and Aneury Tavárez). He won the MVP, the first Cuban to win it since Michel Abreu a decade prior. He also took home Comeback Player of the Year.

Notable Achievements

• 2022 MVP Mexican League Toros de Tijuana

Sources

• 2013 Reds Media Guide
• Purapelota