Nelson Perez (minors02)

Nelson Antonio Perez

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 240 lb.

• Born November 16, 1987 in Villa Riva D.R.

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Nelson Perez has played as high as AAA and NPB.

Perez was signed by Chicago Cubs scout Jose Serra in 2006. He made his pro debut with the 2007 AZL Cubs, hitting .252/.288/.413 with 6 walks to 46 strikeouts. He had 11 assists in 44 outfield games. He was much better with the same club in 2008 - .305/.341/.657, 10 3B, 9 HR, 33 R, 37 RBI in 39 G. He led the Arizona League in slugging, 77 points ahead of John Contreras and was second to Jaff Decker in OPS. He also tied for first in triples (with Rashun Dixon), tied Contreras for the home run lead, was 7th in RBI, was second to Franklin Hernandez in total bases and he tied Hernandez for the most extra-base hits (26). Despite that, he was left off the AZL All-Star as the outfielders picked were Decker, Jericho Jones and Alexi Amarista.

He made 12 errors for the 2009 Peoria Chiefs while his hitting fell off (.251/.288/.391, 130 K). He was 8th in the Midwest League in strikeouts, between Johermyn Chavez and Jordan Lennerton. He split 2010 between Peoria (.289/.329/.462, 11 HR in 82 G) and the Daytona Cubs (.163/.218/.288 in 27 G), continuing to show too aggressive a plate approach or too poor a batting eye (22 BB, 121 K). He had the same number of home runs (12) and strikeouts (121) in 2011 as in 2010 and most of his other numbers were similar; he split time that year between Daytona (.327/.370/.505 in 26 G) and the Tennessee Smokies (.249/.313/.430 in 88 G).

In 2012, Perez hit 16 homers and 7 triples between Daytona (.278/.380/.494 in 79 G) and Tennessee (.205/.282/.402 in 43 G); he still struck out 129 times but his walk rate jumped and he drew 54 free passes, good for 9th in the Cubs chain. He also tied Javier Baez for 7th in the Cubs system in home runs and was 4th in whiffs. Let go by Chicago, he had a good summer in Mexico in 2013 with the Olmecas de Tabasco (.300/.384/.473 in 53 G) and Acereros de Monclova (.276/.406/.644 in 26 G), with 17 homers and a 857 OPS for the year.

For 2014, he signed with Unipol Bologna of the Italian Baseball League. He debuted as the cleanup hitter and left fielder on Opening Day. He struck out against Angel Calero in his first at-bat and finished the game 1 for 5 with a RBI in a 6-0 win. He struggled in Italy, batting .158/.377/.289 in 12 games, then left the team. He joined the Hanshin Tigers in 2015 but was 0 for 9 with a walk.

Sources

• 2013 Cubs Media Guide
• Mister Baseball