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Cleveland Indians: Roberto Perez’s injury won’t derail hot start

By Chad Porto

CLEVELAND, OHIO - JULY 17: Catcher Roberto Perez #55 of the Cleveland Indians watches the scoreboard after the top of the third inning of an intrasquad game at Progressive Field on July 17, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JULY 17: Catcher Roberto Perez #55 of the Cleveland Indians watches the scoreboard after the top of the third inning of an intrasquad game at Progressive Field on July 17, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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The Cleveland Indians will be without Roberto Perez for at least 10 days as he recovers from a shoulder injury.

The Cleveland Indians are off to a great start but the bad news was bound to happen eventually. That news comes in the form of an injured right shoulder that belongs to the Indians prized Gold Glove catcher, Roberto Perez. Perez was placed on the injured-list in between games one and two of Tuesday’s doubleheader.

Perez was coming off of a career year in 2019, where he won the Gold Glove award at catcher and also set career highs in hits, home runs, RBI’s, walks, and his OPS. Perez was expected to be the backstop to the Major’s best starting rotation, but now with him expected to miss a sixth of the season, the Indians have to wonder how this will affect their play going forward.

Backup catcher Sandy Leon isn’t the complete player that Perez is, but he’s had near-identical numbers to Perez so far in 2020, and the starting pitching is so good, you could put Slider back there and he could catch this club to 10+ strikeouts a night. The bullpen will be a different story, with a lot of turnover in recent years, Perez brought a calming influence to the newbies but they should be fine for the time being. If it were the playoffs, however, then it would be time to worry.

Beau Taylor will join the roster as Leon’s backup, while fellow catcher Steve Baron will join them as part of a two-man taxi squad in the off chance someone can’t go for one reason or another. Neither Taylor nor Baron are young, Taylor’s 30 and Baron’s 29. Meaning neither guy is a long term option to replace for Perez.

Despite Perez’s ability to navigate most pitchers to strong performances, it seems unlikely the team will fall apart with him out of the lineup or not behind the plate. The Indians have become known for their pitching prowess going back to the days of C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee anchoring the club. If anything this will be an opportunity for Leon and company to show they deserve more than just a fleeting roster spot in a pandemic shortened season.

That said, the team trading away Francisco Mejia still boggles the mind. He would’ve been so valuable right now.

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