Louis Taggart | June 21, 2024
Signed during the international free agency period in 2021 for $300,000, Andy Perez wasn’t known nationally and still hasn’t become a known prospect, failing to make the Colorado Rockies’ top 30 prospect lists in 2024. The 6-foot-3, Cuban-born shortstop is listed at 165 pounds and is the youngest Rockies’ player in full-season professional baseball at just 20 years old and a couple of weeks. His tools plus his development at such a young age, could turn him into a top-20 prospect in the Rockies’ system by next season.
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Andy Perez Scouting Report
Andy Perez is a glove-first infielder, who provides most value at shortstop, but has experience at third base. Both his fielding ability and his arm look to be average or better with room for growth. As a hitter, he still lacks power, but he has already made great yearly gains in the strength room and could project for 15 home runs or more in the future.
Perez has doubled his walk rate from last season, but his approach is still a work in progress and one of the biggest areas for improvement. While Perez is an above-average athlete and has quality speed, he’s still learning to implement it in games and has 5 stolen bases in 10 attempts.
Andy Perez Timeline
In his first two seasons as a member of the Rockies organization, Andy Perez spent his time in the Dominican Summer League. Across those two seasons, he played 110 games with a slash line of .297/.334/.378, giving him a lukewarm OPS of .712. From an offensive standpoint, he didn’t light the league on fire, but the glove was on display every day.
Despite all of that, the Rockies organization recognized the defensive ability and skipped Perez over the ACL level entirely, sending him to Fresno in 2023.
That first Fresno assignment was his first season stateside, and Perez struggled. He played the full season with a slash line of .245/.280/.316, including 74 strikeouts to just 17 walks. Starting the season as an 18-year-old, it’s impressive that he hung on the whole year.
“He was overwhelmed last year in Fresno…We sent him there, which was an aggressive promotion . . . We challenged him.” – Jesse Stender, Rockies assistant farm director. – Baseball America
With his struggles in 2023, Perez would start the 2024 season off in Fresno again, once again, being the youngest player on the roster. Coming into the spring, coaches and trainers could see gains in the strength room. This has translated into a better overall hitting profile and has made him a more complete bat.
The 2024 season couldn’t have started any better for Perez. He started the season hitting safely in 23 out of the first 24 games of the season, having seven multi-hit games in that stretch. He has cooled down since then but is still one of the most reliable hitters in the Grizzlies lineup. He’s slashing .273/.326/.412 with an OPS of .737.
The improvement also matches the eye test, he’s physically more imposing with the bat and no longer relying on bloop hits and instead driving the ball. He’s also shown maturity within his plate discipline, he’s working favorable counts more often compared to last year which is why he has already surpassed last year’s walk total in half of the games.
Andy Perez’s Future Outlook
The Rockies have a great track record at developing young middle infielders. Ezequiel Tovar and Adael Amador are obvious success stories of late, but even Brendan Rodgers showcased the organization’s ability to turn a kid into a legitimate pro ball player. The Rockies developed a high schooler in Rodgers into a Gold Glove winner and a 4 bWAR player in 2022.
With all of Perez’s success, it’s easy to see why he’s one of my favorite prospects for the future. He just turned 20, meaning it’s tough to predict his trajectory to the majors, but if he keeps developing, he could be a valuable piece on an MLB roster.
Written by Louis Taggart
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