5 Cleveland Indians stocks that are soaring before Opening Day
5. Roberto Perez, C
Roberto Perez is hitting .412 in spring training. No, he’s not going to become Ted Williams when the games start to count. Nor is he even likely to hit .260.
But this is 2021 and it’s bombs away for big-league hitters, so it’s good to see Perez being a force at the plate considering how bad he was in 2020.
In 21 Cactus-League plate appearances he’s 7-of-17 with a coupe of bombs. The home runs are really what’s important here. Perez managed just one homer in 110 plate appearances during last summer’s truncated season. Perez only played in 31 of those games with a shoulder injury.
We know his defense is top-notch, so if Perez can return to his 2019 form, then the Indians offense will catch a break toward the bottom of the order.
In that season, Perez hit 24 bombs and drove in 63 runs. Cleveland’s lineup is going to struggle to produce runs after losing Francisco Lindor. Any help, and I mean ANY help, gives the club more of a chance than they do right now.
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Baseball Reference is projecting 14 homers in 2021. Those calculations are all about date. If Perez is healthy, he should be able to knock on the door of being a 20-homer threat.