Toronto Blue Jays top 10 prospects for 2019

10. Hector Perez, RHP

Birthday: 6/6/1996 (22)
Acquired: Trade with Houston, July 2018
Level(s): high-A Buies Creek, AA Corpus Christi, AA New Hampshire
Statistics: 3-5, 27 G, 18 GS, 115 IP, 2 SV, 3.76 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 13.3% BB, 27.7% K

Originally signed by the Houston Astros in the summer of 2014 as an “older” signee, already 18 when he first signed, Hector Perez, like many late signees had a lot of velocity, but not a lot of polish to go with it.

That was still the story for Perez as he opened the 2018 season in the Carolina League working in the Astros tandem system, with some thinking that Perez may end up shifting to the bullpen due to difficulties with his delivery. He was able to get his delivery smoothed and saw excellent results in AA as well.

Perez has plenty of walks on his tally sheet, but yet his WHIP stays reasonable simply because it is near-impossible to square up his lively mid-90s fastball that can touch upper-90s or his hard-breaking upper-80s slider. Obviously, long-term, he’ll have to polish his control and command to have a chance at starting, but there’s a formula already here for a dominant relief pitcher.

In fact, one big comparison that has been made is to the man that Perez was traded for, Roberto Osuna, who went from a starter in high-A, and one without a lot of success to his name yet, to big league closer (granted, Osuna was a couple years younger, but still). Perez could absolutely make that kind of jump in 2019 if the Toronto Blue Jays chose to push him into a bullpen role full-time.

If he’s not pushed into the bullpen, Perez could open in AA as a starter, with a bump to AAA midseason and a September call to Toronto in 2019.