Joe Perez Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

AB	20
AVG	.1
OBP	.182
SLG	.1
HR	0

Full name Joseph Perez
Born 08/12/1999 in Pembroke Pines, FL
Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 198 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Archbishop Mccarthy
Debut 04/08/2022
Drafted in the 2nd round (53rd overall) by the Houston Astros in 2017 (signed for $1,600,000).

View Draft Report

Perez has some of the highest upside of any prep pitcher in this year's class because of a fastball he routinely gets into the upper 90s. At the same time, Perez is an extremely raw thrower, with only two years of experience on the mound. Perez experienced shoulder tendinitis that took him off the rubber for a few weeks after the National High School Invitational this spring, where his fastball topped out at 94.4 mph in three innings, according to TrackMan. Several weeks after that, Perez got on the mound again and was back in the upper 90s, touching 99 according to one gun. He's also shown the makings of an above-average to plus slider with tight spin and low-to-mid-80s velocity, though the pitch is inconsistent. Perez's lack of experience and inconsistent command lead some evaluators to project him as a reliever long term. Perez is also a prospect as a position player, although he doesn't offer near the amount upside as a hitter as he does on the mound, predominantly because of how he profiles. Perez has mostly played third base when he's not on the mound--Alex Toral plays first with Archbishop McCarthy--and has easily been the team's best hitter, leading in most major offensive categories and showing power to all fields. He's performed better in the box than on the mound this spring, and while his arm certainly plays from the hot corner, there are questions about his footwork, lateral movement and hands at that position moving forward, making first base the most likely position for him if he isn't a pitcher. The upside with Perez is enormous, but there are many questions, and a team will have to believe they can teach him to be a pitcher rather than just a hard thrower to be taken in the first few rounds.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

BA Grade/Risk: 40/Medium

Track Record: After an injury plagued start to Perez's professional career, Perez found health in 2021, rose through three levels of the minors and hit .262/.326/.454 with 18 home runs. He broke camp with the major league team but was reassigned to Double-A within a week. He went down with an oblique injury in late April and missed two months of the season, returning to Corpus Christi in mid July. Perez was promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land in late September.

Scouting Report: Over his five-year professional career Perez has improved his physique and conditioning to the point he now has a more toned build. While health continues to be a concern, Perez has a high-skill profile with projectable power in his frame. He's an above-average contact hitter with an average approach and rarely gets himself into trouble by expanding the zone. He has a clean, level righthanded swing with a quiet load. While his exit velocity data is above-average, he makes his hardest contact at flatter launch angles, which leads to hard stuck liners to the gap. Perez's power currently plays best for doubles. He's a below-average runner with limited range at third base. Whether he sticks at third base is an open question, though he's made improvements in the field over the last two seasons. A former two-way star in high school, Perez has a plus throwing arm.

The Future: Perez has a bat-first profile with defensive questions, and his most likely role is as a strong-side platoon bat with the ability to fill in on the infield corners.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50. Power: 50. Run: 40. Field: 45. Arm: 60.
Track Record: The Astros drafted Perez in the second round and signed him for $1.6 million in 2017 knowing he’d need Tommy John surgery. He had it one day after his selection, starting a circuitous career that finally seems on track. His Tommy John recovery, a shoulder surgery in 2018 and the coronavirus pandemic limited Perez to just 209 professional plate appearances prior to the 2021 season. He lost around 15 pounds during the pandemic to become more durable and reached Double-A Corpus Christi during his first full minor league season. Perez posted an .849 OPS and showed serviceable enough defense at third base to earn a spot on Houston’s 40-man roster.

Scouting Report: Perez isn’t an excitable player but boasts an offensive skill set many feel will give him a chance to make the major leagues. He is still a power-over-hit offensive prospect, but he demonstrated a better ability to use the opposite field in 2021 while making far more contact and staging competitive at-bats. Perez’s swing can still get too long, but he has enough strength to produce above-average power. The Astros will keep pushing him at third base—where a plus arm can compensate for a lack of range—but could expose him to left field to increase his value.

The Future: Perez reshaped his body and refined his focus to put himself back on the map in 2021. Having another season similar in 2022 at Triple-A Sugar Land would make him an intriguing bench option in the major leagues.
For most of his high school career, Perez was a well-regarded third baseman with excellent power. But Perez quickly turned into one of the must-see pitching prospects in Florida thanks to a 95-98 mph fastball. Most teams quickly came to prefer Perez as a pitcher, but the Astros (and Perez) believed in his bat. Perez hit a home run to finish hitting for the cycle in a playoff win, then was shut down with an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. The Astros drafted him knowing that he would need to rehab the elbow injury. Perez has easy plus power to all fields although there's more debate over how much he's going to hit. The Astros are confident that he's going to hit for average as well as power while other scouts saw less bat-to-ball skills. When Perez does get back into the dirt, he has a plus-plus arm that makes up for some of his limitations in foot speed and range. He will have to work hard on his lateral agility to stay at third base. Perez will be able to hit again during spring training, although he'll need significantly more time before his arm is ready to handle playing third base again. Perez always has a fallback option of going back to the mound if hitting doesn't work out, but the Astros are confident he's a slugging third baseman.

Draft Prospects

Perez has some of the highest upside of any prep pitcher in this year's class because of a fastball he routinely gets into the upper 90s. At the same time, Perez is an extremely raw thrower, with only two years of experience on the mound. Perez experienced shoulder tendinitis that took him off the rubber for a few weeks after the National High School Invitational this spring, where his fastball topped out at 94.4 mph in three innings, according to TrackMan. Several weeks after that, Perez got on the mound again and was back in the upper 90s, touching 99 according to one gun. He's also shown the makings of an above-average to plus slider with tight spin and low-to-mid-80s velocity, though the pitch is inconsistent. Perez's lack of experience and inconsistent command lead some evaluators to project him as a reliever long term. Perez is also a prospect as a position player, although he doesn't offer near the amount upside as a hitter as he does on the mound, predominantly because of how he profiles. Perez has mostly played third base when he's not on the mound--Alex Toral plays first with Archbishop McCarthy--and has easily been the team's best hitter, leading in most major offensive categories and showing power to all fields. He's performed better in the box than on the mound this spring, and while his arm certainly plays from the hot corner, there are questions about his footwork, lateral movement and hands at that position moving forward, making first base the most likely position for him if he isn't a pitcher. The upside with Perez is enormous, but there are many questions, and a team will have to believe they can teach him to be a pitcher rather than just a hard thrower to be taken in the first few rounds.

Scouting Reports

BA Grade/Risk: 40/Medium

Track Record: After an injury plagued start to Perez's professional career, Perez found health in 2021, rose through three levels of the minors and hit .262/.326/.454 with 18 home runs. He broke camp with the major league team but was reassigned to Double-A within a week. He went down with an oblique injury in late April and missed two months of the season, returning to Corpus Christi in mid July. Perez was promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land in late September.

Scouting Report: Over his five-year professional career Perez has improved his physique and conditioning to the point he now has a more toned build. While health continues to be a concern, Perez has a high-skill profile with projectable power in his frame. He's an above-average contact hitter with an average approach and rarely gets himself into trouble by expanding the zone. He has a clean, level righthanded swing with a quiet load. While his exit velocity data is above-average, he makes his hardest contact at flatter launch angles, which leads to hard stuck liners to the gap. Perez's power currently plays best for doubles. He's a below-average runner with limited range at third base. Whether he sticks at third base is an open question, though he's made improvements in the field over the last two seasons. A former two-way star in high school, Perez has a plus throwing arm.

The Future: Perez has a bat-first profile with defensive questions, and his most likely role is as a strong-side platoon bat with the ability to fill in on the infield corners.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50. Power: 50. Run: 40. Field: 45. Arm: 60.
BA Grade/Risk: 40/Medium

Track Record: After an injury plagued start to Perez's professional career, Perez found health in 2021, rose through three levels of the minors and hit .262/.326/.454 with 18 home runs. He broke camp with the major league team but was reassigned to Double-A within a week. He went down with an oblique injury in late April and missed two months of the season, returning to Corpus Christi in mid July. Perez was promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land in late September.

Scouting Report: Over his five-year professional career Perez has improved his physique and conditioning to the point he now has a more toned build. While health continues to be a concern, Perez has a high-skill profile with projectable power in his frame. He's an above-average contact hitter with an average approach and rarely gets himself into trouble by expanding the zone. He has a clean, level righthanded swing with a quiet load. While his exit velocity data is above-average, he makes his hardest contact at flatter launch angles, which leads to hard stuck liners to the gap. Perez's power currently plays best for doubles. He's a below-average runner with limited range at third base. Whether he sticks at third base is an open question, though he's made improvements in the field over the last two seasons. A former two-way star in high school, Perez has a plus throwing arm.

The Future: Perez has a bat-first profile with defensive questions, and his most likely role is as a strong-side platoon bat with the ability to fill in on the infield corners.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50. Power: 50. Run: 40. Field: 45. Arm: 60.
BA Grade: 45/High

Track Record: The Astros drafted Perez in the second round and signed him for $1.6 million in 2017 knowing he&#39d need Tommy John surgery. He had it one day after his selection, starting a circuitous career that finally seems on track. His Tommy John recovery, a shoulder surgery in 2018 and the coronavirus pandemic limited Perez to just 209 professional plate appearances prior to the 2021 season. He lost around 15 pounds during the pandemic to become more durable and reached Double-A Corpus Christi during his first full minor league season. Perez posted an .849 OPS and showed serviceable enough defense at third base to earn a spot on Houston&#39s 40-man roster.

Scouting Report: Perez isn&#39t an excitable player but boasts an offensive skill set many feel will give him a chance to make the major leagues. He is still a power-over-hit offensive prospect, but he demonstrated a better ability to use the opposite field in 2021 while making far more contact and staging competitive at-bats. Perez&#39s swing can still get too long, but he has enough strength to produce above-average power. The Astros will keep pushing him at third base—where a plus arm can compensate for a lack of range—but could expose him to left field to increase his value.

The Future: Perez reshaped his body and refined his focus to put himself back on the map in 2021. Having another season similar in 2022 at Triple-A Sugar Land would make him an intriguing bench option in the major leagues.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50. Power: 50. Speed: 40. Fielding: 45. Arm: 60.
Track Record: The Astros drafted Perez in the second round and signed him for $1.6 million in 2017 knowing he’d need Tommy John surgery. He had it one day after his selection, starting a circuitous career that finally seems on track. His Tommy John recovery, a shoulder surgery in 2018 and the coronavirus pandemic limited Perez to just 209 professional plate appearances prior to the 2021 season. He lost around 15 pounds during the pandemic to become more durable and reached Double-A Corpus Christi during his first full minor league season. Perez posted an .849 OPS and showed serviceable enough defense at third base to earn a spot on Houston’s 40-man roster.

Scouting Report: Perez isn’t an excitable player but boasts an offensive skill set many feel will give him a chance to make the major leagues. He is still a power-over-hit offensive prospect, but he demonstrated a better ability to use the opposite field in 2021 while making far more contact and staging competitive at-bats. Perez’s swing can still get too long, but he has enough strength to produce above-average power. The Astros will keep pushing him at third base—where a plus arm can compensate for a lack of range—but could expose him to left field to increase his value.

The Future: Perez reshaped his body and refined his focus to put himself back on the map in 2021. Having another season similar in 2022 at Triple-A Sugar Land would make him an intriguing bench option in the major leagues.
Perez has been playing catch-up ever since he was drafted. A righthander/third baseman in high school, Perez missed all of his 2017 debut season and almost all of the 2018 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He then looked utterly lost in 2019 in short-season ball. The Astros started him off slowly, letting him get comfortable in Low-A before promoting him to High-A. He torched the High A East league—hitting better away from the short fences of his home Asheville park—before being promoted again to Double-A. Perez has a similar profile to that of former Astros prospect J.D. Davis. He's a third baseman with limited range but a plus-plus arm, and he hits for power but will struggle to hit for average.