Signed out of Nicaragua in 2022, Perez was a fantastic piece of scouting by the Blue Jays. While he’s never been the prospect to wow evaluators with velocities and pitch movement metrics, Perez has tremendous feel for his pitches, creating a prospect who is greater than the sum of his individual tools. Perez broke out in 2023, posting a 2.72 ERA over 49 2/3 innings in the Complex League, and he followed that up with a 4.06 ERA and 86 strikeouts over 82 innings at Single-A.
Perez’s profile is all about his potential floor, which right now points toward him being a back-end depth starter in the big leagues. For his ceiling to move, some of his stuff will need to tick up once more, which starts with his fastball. Perez sat 93-94 mph last season, which was an encouraging step, while showing a good feel for his 82-85 mph slider. Perez tends to live in the zone (2.0 BB/9 career), which is his greatest strength but also something that will present a challenge. As he faces more advanced hitters who know they’ll be getting pitches near the plate, can Perez adjust and miss bats? The slider will be a key piece there, as will developing a consistent changeup.
Most pitchers Perez’s age have high-end stuff, but need more feel. Perez is the opposite, which makes him so unique on this list, but he needs to show he can keep living in the zone at each stop up the ladder. High-A batters began to make a ton of contact against him in 2025 until he showed signs of a breakout in July.
Signed out of Nicaragua in 2022, Perez immediately showed polish for his age in the Dominican Summer League, striking out 48 batters and walking just five over 43 2/3 innings (4.53 ERA). That carried over into the Florida Complex League in ‘23, where Perez posted a 2.72 ERA over 49 2/3 innings with 57 strikeouts and 12 walks. This package is all about command and throwing strikes, which gives Perez an impressive potential floor.
Whether Perez develops the ceiling to be something even more exciting remains to be seen. He lived in the low-90s last season but has grown into a bit more velocity, spending more time in the 93-94 mph range this season. He already has a strong feel for his slider, which lives in the 82-85 mph range and could be tightened up in the coming years. He's also shown an upper-80s curveball and low-80s changeup that can get some swing-and-miss. As Perez climbs levels, more advanced and aggressive hitters will try to blitz him, knowing that he’ll be in the zone more than most pitchers in this organization.
The Blue Jays still see plenty of room for physical growth in Perez, and his development at Single-A Dunedin has been a positive one in 2024. His feel for pitching means that Perez should be able to put up some impressive numbers in Single-A and High-A, but it will be interesting to see how his stuff fares against more advanced bats. This is a unique development project for the Blue Jays that will work in reverse in some ways. Many pitchers Perez’s age have the stuff, not the feel, so the Blue Jays can now focus on maximizing the potential of his body, particularly when it comes to fastball velocity and the movement on his slider.
