Under the Radar Yankees Prospects: Freicer Perez

Yanks Go Yard is combing through the New York Yankees minor league system in search of hidden gems in this ongoing series. Today, pitcher Freicer Perez.

Though he was technically part of the New York Yankees famous 2014 international spending spree, Freicer Perez did not land one of the six or seven figure bonuses the team was handing out like candy that July. He signed for a measly $10,000 as an 18-year-old and received basically no notice from prospect analysts.

Perez pitched well in the Dominican Summer League the next year, putting up a 3.23 ERA while striking out 22.7% of the batters he faced in 15 starts (69.2 IP). That performance earned him a promotion to the Staten Island Yankees in the New York-Penn League to begin this season, aggressively skipping him over both the Gulf Coast League and the Appalachian League.

Predictably, there was a learning curve for the 20-year-old facing mostly top college draft picks in 2016. He pitched to a 4.47 ERA and 1.452 WHIP in 13 starts (52.1 IP) for the Baby Bombers. Free passes were the biggest issue for Perez, surrendering them to 10.5% of opposing batters (4.3 BB/9). His strikeout numbers were still strong, however, with a 20.6% K rate.

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While the results haven’t been there yet, Perez’s physical tools and electric fastball have started to get him noticed. He just managed to sneak onto MLB Pipeline’s 2016 Prospect Watch in the #29 spot at the end of the year, and seems like a strong candidate to make a big leap up that list next season.

With his lanky 6’8 190 lb frame and upper-90’s fastball that has been clocked at 99, Perez bears a striking resemblance to one of the Yankees top pitching prospects, Domingo Acevedo. Like Acevedo, Perez also throws a slider and a change, although Perez has a lot more work to do to make his secondary offerings credible.

At the moment, Perez is getting by solely on velocity and will need to develop an off-speed offering so batters can’t sit on the fastball. He also needs to work on throwing strikes more consistently, especially with his breaking ball.

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While his upside should earn him an extended shot in the rotation, Perez would move much more quickly as a reliever if things don’t work out as a starter. An assignment to Low-A Charleston for his first stint in full-season ball seems likely, so at the very least we should see how he responds to an increased workload.