Pittsburgh Pirates News: Roberto Pérez Placed on Injured List

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Roberto Pérez suffered a gruesome hamstring strain during game one of Satuday’s double header against the Reds.

The Pittsburgh Pirates roster took a big blow during the first game of Saturday’s double header. Backstop Roberto Pérez suffered what is currently being described as a hamstring strain while advancing to second base on a Ben Gamel single. Pérez had reached base himelf earlier during the inning from single, and his second hit of the day.

This marks a massive blow to the Pirate roster. Pérez has been a phenomenal offseason  addition and has more than filled the shoes left behind by Jacob Stallings. In 69 plate appearances this season Pérez is hitting for a .233/.333/.367 slash line to go with a 109 wRC+.

However, the defense he has brought behind the plate has been invaluable. In the short sample size, he already has +2 defensive runs saved, and +1.8 framing runs. He’s also caught 33% of would-be base stealers. After all, Pérez was a two-time Gold Glove winner in 2019 and 2020 who had +36 defensive runs saved and +11 framing runs.

Pérez’s extremely unfortunate injury played a large role in the Pittsburgh Pirates being defeated in game one of the double header. Andrew Knapp had already been ejected from the game after shouting some choice words to the home plate umpire. Once Perez was pulled, the Pirates were forced to put Josh VanMeter behind the dish. According to the broadcast, VanMeter hasn’t caught since he was 14 or 15-years-old. The Pirates proceded to give up seven runs in the bottom of the eigthth. Three of those runs were “earned”, all of which were credited to Wil Crowe. After the game, reporters saw Perez on crutches while exiting the clubhouse.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have selected the contract of Michael Pérez from Triple-A Indianapolis to replace Roberto Perez on the active roster. Sam Howard has been designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.