It’s very easy to look at Roberto Perez‘s 58 wRC+ line and determine him a subpar offensive catcher or all glove, no hit catcher, but of course in the postseason, like Tony Pena before him, unlikely heroes can emerge. Pena, who normally would have started with Dennis Martinez pitching, wound up catching when the Indians pinch-ran for Sandy Alomar, Jr. in the 10th of game one in the 1995 ALDS. Pena homered to give the Indians their first postseason win since 1954. Perez only started in the 2016 ALDS due to multiple injuries to Yan Gomes. While Perez’s Game 1 ALDS homer didn’t give them the win per-se, it set a tone for the night and for him.
Perez slugged .408 a year ago, had an OPS of .751 and a wRC+ or 108. Being forced back from game rehab after thumb surgery never allowed him to gain real footing. He had some good stretches but was mostly out of sync.
What Perez did all season and what he didn’t have to really do in the Red Sox series (and won’t have to much vs. Toronto either) is throw runners out. He threw out 13 of 26 attempted base stealers including Terrance “baseball’s Usain Bolt” Gore. Twice.
Perez’s tag up on a fly ball to second base in the fifth inning of game one was his most only unlikely moment, but the Indians were the AL’s best base running team all season long and while Perez only scored a 0.1 BsR this season, he joined in the team’s fun in games on the bases at that moment.
Perez also was worth 8 framing runs this season and handled the pitching staff wonderfully in the ALDS. His swipe tag at home of Brock Holt was also a difference maker. Perez also showed guts trying to make that tag when a similar play fractured his thumb this past April. But that tag saved a run and the Indians only won by one.
You could say Perez was worth three runs himself in ALD Game 1. His homer, the tag and tagging up to second base and scoring from second on a single.
His home run wasn’t a surprise, unexpected maybe. His aggressive base running? Maybe a little more so. But Perez being the hero of just one postseason game and win isn’t as surprising as you thought it was.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
