Néstor Pérez

Néstor Pérez Alonso

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.

• Born November 24, 1976 in Matanzas Cuba

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Néstor Pérez is the son of Néstor Pérez Sr. and played in Cuba, the US and Spain. Pérez Jr. was 5 for 18 in the Cuban Serie Nacional before defecting to the US. Pérez signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and would be with them for several years.

In 1998, he made his US pro debut with the Princeton Devil Rays (.258/.350/.287 in 66 G) and Charleston Riverdogs (.175/.220/.194 in 62 G). He led the Appalachian League with 17 sacrifice hits but his big impact was defensively, leading the circuit's shortstops in putouts (116), assists (208), double plays (43) and fielding percentage (.976).

Néstor spent 1999 with the St. Petersburg Devil Rays, hitting .264/.286/.291 with no homers and only 10 walks in 111 games. In 2000, he was with St. Petersburg (.249/.282/.290 in 47 games) and the Orlando Rays (.204/.254/.221 in 75 G). While he had reached AA by age 23, he would never advance beyond that level.

Pérez hit .241/.289/.295 with 11 steals in 15 tries for the 2001 Bakersfield Blaze, an especially weak line in an offense-dominated circuit. He led California League shortstops in fielding percentage (.967) and tied Ray Olmedo for the most twin killings (65). Back with Bakersfield in '02, he batted .252/.309/.307 and laid down 23 sacrifice hits, most in the league and second in all of the affiliated minors.

Pérez played for the Spanish national team in the 2003 European Championship, hitting .267/.290/.300 while laying down six sacrifice hits in eight games for the Bronze Medalists. In 2004, he was back in the minors after a year off and batted .321/.331/.397 in 42 games for the Montgomery Biscuits.

Néstor split 2005 between the Visalia Oaks (.196/.286/.250 in 16 G) and the Tulsa Drillers (4 for 28). Overall, he hit .241/.290/.281 in the US minor leagues.

In the 2005 European Championship, he tied Percy Isenia for third with 10 RBI despite a mediocre batting line (.250/.333/.344); he did play error-free ball at SS and was named as the All-Star shortstop as Spain won another Bronze Medal. He was 0 for 4 in the Bronze Medal Game win over Germany. He batted .222/.313/.333 with a team-high 6 RBI in the 2005 Baseball World Cup and fielded .975 at shortstop.

In 2006, he hit .400/.492/.543 for Spain's Marlins Puerto Cruz, a club founded by his father. He finished second in the Division Honor in batting average. The next year, he batted .342/.412/.439 for the Marlins. In the 2007 European Championship, he eked out a .185/.324/.185 line but scored 7 runs in 8 games to finish second on Spain behind Daniel Figueroa; Spain won another Bronze. During the 2007 Baseball World Cup, he hit .188/.235/.188 as the Spanish shortstop. He only produced two runs in seven games, both of them RBI in a near-upset 4-3 loss to Japan.

Pérez hit .188/.288/.250 in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament and showed rare defensive lapses, with 3 errors in six games. He hit .333 in the 2008 Division Honor campaign. In the 2008 European Cup in Grosseto, he hit .263/.238/.263. He also coached for the Spanish junior national team (managed by his father) that year.

In the 2009 European Cup's Matino phase, the veteran infielder batted .235/.316/.294.

(2009-2013 additional information needs to be filled in)

Perez was assistant hitting coach for the Danville Braves in 2013 and Rome Braves in 2014-2015. Perez became a manager with the GCL Braves in 2016, coached for Spain in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers and 2016 European Championship and managed the Danville Braves in 2017. He guided the GCL Braves in 2018-2019 and coached for Spain in the 2019 European Championship and 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier. He was scheduled to be a coach of the Mississippi Braves in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to Covid-19. He guided the '21 FCL Braves and '22 Augusta GreenJackets then coached for Spain in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2016	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	28-28	8th	Atlanta Braves
2017	Danville Braves	Appalachian League	36-32	4th	Atlanta Braves
2018	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	22-32	16th	Atlanta Braves
2019	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	18-30	17th	Atlanta Braves
2021	FCL Braves	Florida Complex League	25-31	13th	Atlanta Braves
2022	Augusta GreenJackets	Carolina League	69-62	4th (t)	Atlanta Braves
2023	FCL Braves	Florida Complex League	30-24	4th	Atlanta Braves	League Champs

Sources

• 2005 Guia Official de Beisbol
• Mister Baseball
• CEB website
• Spanish Baseball Federation
• 1999-2006 Baseball Almanacs
• IBAF
• 2003 European Championship
• Wayback Archive of the 2005 European Championship site