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Back before Jackson Chourio put pen to paper with the Milwaukee Brewers, there was another outfield prospect from Venezuela that was generating a considerable amount of hype. Attention on the international free agent market has grown quite a lot in recent years, and the Brewers were on the cutting edge of that market.
The Brewers have built a scouting apparatus in Venezuela that's a well-oiled machine. At the forefront of those signings was outfielder Hedbert Perez.
Signed in 2019, back when the signing day was July 2nd, Perez signed with the Brewers for an $800,000 bonus. It was the second-biggest bonus the Brewers gave out that year, behind Luis Medina, but it was clear from the beginning Perez was the top talent in that class.
© Curt Hogg / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
Like most July 2nd signings, Perez did not play in the DSL season in 2019, instead getting onboarded in professional baseball behind the seasons and waiting until the 2020 season came around to get on the field. Then, the Covid pandemic of 2020 shut down the minor league season and Perez never got a chance to play in the Dominican Summer League.
Instead, as a 17 year old, Perez came up stateside in 2020 as one of the players at the "Brewers alternate site" in Appleton, home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, where the remaining 40 man players not on the active roster and a select group of minor league prospects were able to get their work in with no minor league season available to them.
"Being here at that age with all those guys it helped me to just a little, have a little taste of big league stuff, big league pitchers, big league players. I think it was really helpful for me at the moment." Perez said.
Perez was one of the stars of the alternate site, turning heads and opening eyes of those in the organization with his exit velocities and overall play despite being the youngest player there.
It's why Perez was ranked as the 3rd-best Brewers prospect by Baseball America heading into the 2021 season.
Perez had a 32 game stint in the Arizona Complex League that year, lighting it up, hitting .333 with six homers and a .969 OPS. Underlying those strong numbers though was 34 strikeouts in those 32 games. They prefaced a drop in production that would soon follow.
Upon promotion to Low-A Carolina late in 2021, Perez initially struggled, hitting just .169 with 25 strikeouts in 65 ABs.
Perez returned to Carolina in 2022, where his struggles with pitch selection were exploited. He hit just .216 with a .665 OPS in 105 games, but also showed glimpses of his big power potential, slugging 23 doubles and 15 homers.
He struggled again to start 2023 as his prospect status continued to tumble. Just when he was getting on a hot streak, left foot injuries robbed him of the remainder of that season and the bulk of 2024.
"Obviously injuries are tough. I think more than physical, it's more of mentality stuff. But I think I've really grown a lot after those two injuries, feel like made me be the player and person I am today." Perez said. "I just feel thankful with God that it helped me to go through those adversity moments."
Now healthy in 2025, Perez is showing signs of reaching that incredibly high potential that he's always had. Through the first month of the season with High-A Wisconsin, Perez leads the Timber Rattlers with four home runs and has a .849 OPS, his highest since reaching full season ball.
"Hedbert is improving his contact rate little by little and he's chasing less out of the zone. He's always been able to do damage on the ball. And then because he's chasing less, making more contact with what we're seeing lately so better results from the offensive side." said Timber Rattlers manager Victor Estevez.
"Been working a lot in the cage with our hitting coach. Things have been feeling great the past two weeks and a half, so trying just to get here every day, keep doing what I'm doing and stressing the work" Perez added.
While strikeouts are likely always going to be a part of Perez's offensive game, the work he's done on his contact rate and chase rate is already starting to show in the results. His strikeout rate in 2024 was 29% and in a similar sample size, it's dropped to 23% this year.
There's still work to do for Perez to reach the prospect status he once had. Prospect development isn't always linear. Others in his class have developed far faster. Jeferson Quero was another member of that 2019 signing class and he's already on the Brewers 40 man roster and one of the Crew's top prospects.
The hype that was there for Perez in the beginning may never come back to the levels they once were, but the hype doesn't matter to him.
"Baseball's tough. You just have to be strong mentally and things are going to go right, things are not going to go right. The only thing that matters is you come in here next day and just try to do the best" Perez said.
Perez peaked on Baseball America's Brewers prospects list at #3 in 2021. Then dropped to 6th in 2022, then down to 20th in 2023, and he's fallen completely off since. With his growth this season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him climb back up onto those rankings during this season and climb further up the minor league system.
He just turned 22 years old, so he's still young enough to believe that talent can bloom. He may be a later bloomer, but the signs of growth are there. Perez has had some ups and downs, but little by little, he's building towards the ultimate goal of reaching the big leagues.
Ready to join the community? Follow Athlon Sports on YouTube, Facebook, and X to join in on the conversation.
You can also follow Site Publisher David Gasper at @dgasper24on X.
Continue reading...
The Brewers have built a scouting apparatus in Venezuela that's a well-oiled machine. At the forefront of those signings was outfielder Hedbert Perez.
Signed in 2019, back when the signing day was July 2nd, Perez signed with the Brewers for an $800,000 bonus. It was the second-biggest bonus the Brewers gave out that year, behind Luis Medina, but it was clear from the beginning Perez was the top talent in that class.
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© Curt Hogg / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
Like most July 2nd signings, Perez did not play in the DSL season in 2019, instead getting onboarded in professional baseball behind the seasons and waiting until the 2020 season came around to get on the field. Then, the Covid pandemic of 2020 shut down the minor league season and Perez never got a chance to play in the Dominican Summer League.
Instead, as a 17 year old, Perez came up stateside in 2020 as one of the players at the "Brewers alternate site" in Appleton, home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, where the remaining 40 man players not on the active roster and a select group of minor league prospects were able to get their work in with no minor league season available to them.
"Being here at that age with all those guys it helped me to just a little, have a little taste of big league stuff, big league pitchers, big league players. I think it was really helpful for me at the moment." Perez said.
Perez was one of the stars of the alternate site, turning heads and opening eyes of those in the organization with his exit velocities and overall play despite being the youngest player there.
It's why Perez was ranked as the 3rd-best Brewers prospect by Baseball America heading into the 2021 season.
Perez had a 32 game stint in the Arizona Complex League that year, lighting it up, hitting .333 with six homers and a .969 OPS. Underlying those strong numbers though was 34 strikeouts in those 32 games. They prefaced a drop in production that would soon follow.
Upon promotion to Low-A Carolina late in 2021, Perez initially struggled, hitting just .169 with 25 strikeouts in 65 ABs.
Perez returned to Carolina in 2022, where his struggles with pitch selection were exploited. He hit just .216 with a .665 OPS in 105 games, but also showed glimpses of his big power potential, slugging 23 doubles and 15 homers.
He struggled again to start 2023 as his prospect status continued to tumble. Just when he was getting on a hot streak, left foot injuries robbed him of the remainder of that season and the bulk of 2024.
"Obviously injuries are tough. I think more than physical, it's more of mentality stuff. But I think I've really grown a lot after those two injuries, feel like made me be the player and person I am today." Perez said. "I just feel thankful with God that it helped me to go through those adversity moments."
Now healthy in 2025, Perez is showing signs of reaching that incredibly high potential that he's always had. Through the first month of the season with High-A Wisconsin, Perez leads the Timber Rattlers with four home runs and has a .849 OPS, his highest since reaching full season ball.
"Hedbert is improving his contact rate little by little and he's chasing less out of the zone. He's always been able to do damage on the ball. And then because he's chasing less, making more contact with what we're seeing lately so better results from the offensive side." said Timber Rattlers manager Victor Estevez.
"Been working a lot in the cage with our hitting coach. Things have been feeling great the past two weeks and a half, so trying just to get here every day, keep doing what I'm doing and stressing the work" Perez added.
While strikeouts are likely always going to be a part of Perez's offensive game, the work he's done on his contact rate and chase rate is already starting to show in the results. His strikeout rate in 2024 was 29% and in a similar sample size, it's dropped to 23% this year.
There's still work to do for Perez to reach the prospect status he once had. Prospect development isn't always linear. Others in his class have developed far faster. Jeferson Quero was another member of that 2019 signing class and he's already on the Brewers 40 man roster and one of the Crew's top prospects.
The hype that was there for Perez in the beginning may never come back to the levels they once were, but the hype doesn't matter to him.
"Baseball's tough. You just have to be strong mentally and things are going to go right, things are not going to go right. The only thing that matters is you come in here next day and just try to do the best" Perez said.
Perez peaked on Baseball America's Brewers prospects list at #3 in 2021. Then dropped to 6th in 2022, then down to 20th in 2023, and he's fallen completely off since. With his growth this season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him climb back up onto those rankings during this season and climb further up the minor league system.
He just turned 22 years old, so he's still young enough to believe that talent can bloom. He may be a later bloomer, but the signs of growth are there. Perez has had some ups and downs, but little by little, he's building towards the ultimate goal of reaching the big leagues.
Ready to join the community? Follow Athlon Sports on YouTube, Facebook, and X to join in on the conversation.
You can also follow Site Publisher David Gasper at @dgasper24on X.
Continue reading...
