Hernán Pérez (baseball)


Hernán Alejandro Pérez is a Venezuelan professional baseball utility player in the Chicago Cubs organization. He previously played for the Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers. Pérez was signed by the Tigers as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2007, and has seen time at every position on the field except for catcher.

Early life

Pérez, was born in San Francisco de Asís, Aragua, Venezuela on March 26, 1991.

Professional career

Minor Leagues

After Pérez was signed by the Tigers, he was placed with the VSL Tigers of the Venezuelan Summer League In 2009, Pérez was promoted to the GCL Tigers of the Gulf Coast League. He was soon promoted to the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Midwest League. Later that season, he was promoted to the Class A-Advanced Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Florida State League. At the start of 2010, Pérez found himself back with the West Michigan Whitecaps for which he had spent the 2011 season. He was named a Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star.

Detroit Tigers

Pérez was called up to the Major Leagues by Detroit on June 9, 2012 after Jhonny Peralta went on paternity leave. Pérez made his debut that day, and got his first hit a day later. He was subsequently sent back to Lakeland so Peralta could rejoin the Tigers.
Pérez started the 2013 season with the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. Pérez was recalled to the Tigers on July 9, 2013, replacing Omar Infante who was placed on the disabled list. Pérez was sent back to Double-A's Erie, on August 2, 2013, to make room for the newly acquired José Iglesias. However, Pérez was recalled to the Tigers just three days later, after teammate Jhonny Peralta received a 50-game suspension due to his ties to the Biogenesis scandal. In 33 plate appearances for the Detroit Tigers during the 2015 season, Pérez was batting only.061 with just two hits, one walk, and no RBIs.

Milwaukee Brewers

On June 2, 2015, Pérez was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers and activated the same day. Since joining the Brewers, Pérez has primarily been used as a utility player while appearing in at least 120 games during the 2016-2018 seasons.. On June 28, 2019, Pérez was designated for assignment. Pérez was outrighted on July 3. Perez Returned to the Brewers when they optioned Travis Shaw to the minors and bought Hernan's minor league contract. He played shortstop that evening versus the Texas Rangers.
On October 16th, 2019, Pérez was outrighted to the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions. He opted free agency and left the team.

Chicago Cubs

On December 9, 2019, Perez signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs.

World Baseball Classic

Pérez represented his home country of Venezuela in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.