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May 3, 2016After fracturing his right thumb in the fifth inning of Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians backup catcher Roberto Perez has been placed on the disabled list, the team announced Sunday. The injury occurred when he dove and prevented Phillies’ Odubel Herrera from crossing the plate after a pitch from Joba Chamberlain went wild. While Perez stopped Herrera from scoring, he will now miss significant time. (Remarkably, the catcher played the rest of the game with a broken thumb.)
Indians manager Terry Francona commented on the injury following the game. From cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes:
“It was a great play. First of all, he blocked the ball with his throat. When he dove he banged his thumb on his throwing hand. He came in and had a small cut on the thumb and it hurt. After the game, it really became sore and swollen. We took an X-ray here and it showed a small break.
“Best case scenario is that he’d be out five to seven days. Knowing that something is going on in there, it’s kind of hard not to put him on thge 15-day DL and go get a catcher. We’ll have a much better idea on the time frame on Monday.”
Prior to Sunday’s game, Perez talked about the play that caused his fractured thumb but strangely never mentioned the actual injury.
“It was one of those plays where the runner was really aggressive. Joba had a really good breaking ball going on so I was trying to relax myself and block the ball. He (Herrera) took a chance and I just went at him. He was getting a really good lead from third. I had the same play last year in Chicago where I dropped the ball against Adam Eaton. So I was anticipating it before it happened.”
A tremendous defensive catcher, much like starter Yan Gomes, Perez’s ability to throw out opposing runners (41 percent of would-be base stealers in his career) and manage a game have been impressive, making him one of the move valuable backup catchers in the MLB. Although the 27-year-old doesn’t have a hit in eight at-bats, he has a .400 on-base percentage because of his six walks, along with one RBI and two runs in four games so far in 2016.
In his three-year career, Perez has batted .235 with eight home runs, 26 RBIs, 92 strikeouts, and a .340 on-base percentage (.720 OPS) in 277 at-bats (103 games). Whether he is struggling at the plate or not, his play behind the plate has allowed starter Yan Gomes to be able to rest after playing in multiple games in a row.
With Perez heading to the disabled list, catcher Adam Moore’s contract was purchased from Triple-A Columbus. So far in 2016, Moore has just a .156 batting average (7-for-45) with two home runs and five RBIs with the Clippers. In his seven-year career, the 31-year-old has just a .201 batting average with six home runs, 21 RBIs, and 84 strikeouts in 269 at-bats (87 games). Considering Moore has struggled in Columbus so far this year and during his career in the MLB, Gomes will likely be counted on to play much more than he did with Perez healthy.
Perez’s fractured thumb is the second significant injury that has happened to an Indians’ player on the current road trip. Pitcher Carlos Carrasco tore his left hamstring in his start on April 24, an injury that will cause him to miss four to six weeks.
For his part, Perez is keeping an optimistic outlook on the situation.
https://twitter.com/robperez2015/status/727154248761393152