Marcelo Perez: The Newest Starting Pitcher
Published on August 28, 2023 under Northwest League (NWL)
Everett AquaSox News Release
Last Wednesday night, the AquaSox took home a huge 5-2 win against the Tri-City Dust Devils-every win matters at this time of year, with the playoff chase heating up. The key for Everett in the win was a new face on the mound: Marcelo Perez. The right-handed starter was making his debut for Everett after a stellar season in Modesto and fired 4.2 innings of one-run ball.
Although there are only a couple of weeks left in the regular season, Everett fans should grow to like Perez as he looks to help the Frogs win a championship, and the right-hander is excited and ready to help the team in whatever capacity he can.
"I'm just trying to get better within these 15 days, try to get one percent better every day," Perez said. "My goal this year is to try to help the team make the playoffs and hopefully win playoffs.
"The crazy thing about Perez's baseball journey so far is that when he was in Little League, his coaches did not trust him to pitch. Freaked out by his wildness, they only allowed him to play in the field during games. This was until his Freshman year of high school when an unfortunate injury during travel ball changed the course of his career forever.
"I was always a position player all throughout Little League and High School. In high school, I went out to play travel ball, and it was my first tournament with the Houston Banditos. In my first at-bat, I tore a ligament in my wrist, and I couldn't hit anymore, I put too much pine tar on my bat," Perez explained. "The only thing I could do was pitch, so I got on the mound, opened up some scouts' eyes, and got calls from college teams."
Once Perez took to the mound, he became a hot commodity in the high school scouting world, and he ultimately landed a scholarship with one of the top baseball schools in the country, TCU.
For a kid from Laredo, Texas, TCU felt like home to Perez. He fell in love with the coaching staff, the campus, and the program's commitment to excellence. But the most important baseball lessons Perez learned as a Horned Frog were not physical or pitching fundamentals but mental fortitude.
"We had a mental performance coach by the name of Brian Cain. I read his book, and I know that is what separated me from the pack, buying into the mental side of baseball," Perez said.
As the 2022 draft came around, Perez had hopeful but realistic expectations for where he would get picked. He knew that he was going to get drafted, but he also knew it would probably be in one of the later rounds. Sure enough, when round 11 came around, he got a call from the Mariners.
When players get drafted, they have a myriad of reasons why they may be excited to join an organization. Philosophical fit, location, opportunity, success of organization. While all these things definitely excited Perez about the Mariners, he also had a much simpler reason why he was excited to join the Seattle organization.
"Honestly, I just wanted an opportunity, but especially being the Mariners, one of my favorite colors is navy blue, and I was like, 'You know what? I'll definitely look good in a Seattle uniform,"' Perez said.
It is an interesting time for Perez to be promoted to Everett. With only a few weeks left in the season, he has to navigate the challenges of bonding with new teammates, just to leave them in less than a month once the offseason starts. To his credit, Perez has not allowed this to get to his head. He says having Bernie Martinez on the team, who is also from Laredo, Texas, has helped with the transition to being a Frog.
The bigger adjustment, according to Perez, has been the yearlong challenge of missing his family. Perez's love for baseball comes from his father. His Grandmother used to show him old newspaper clippings from his Dad's high school baseball glory days, which inspired the younger Perez to take up baseball in the first place. Safe to say, he is excited to see his family again soon.
"I haven't seen my family in a while. That is the biggest sacrifice I've taken in this career, not being able to watch my sister grow up and spend some time with my brother and just be with my family," Perez said.
But Perez has a job to do and a dream to chase. When he was growing up, he used to watch Boston Red Sox games with his Dad and came to idolize Pedro Martinez on the mound. Perez, much like Martinez, is undersized as a Pitcher, standing less than six feet tall. Perez hopes that he can defy the odds, much like his Pitching inspiration did in his heyday.
"I liked Pedro Martinez, we were about the same height. Obviously, he throws a lot harder and has better stuff than me, but hopefully I can get there one day," Perez said.
Northwest League Stories from August 28, 2023
- Marcelo Perez: The Newest Starting Pitcher - Everett AquaSox
- VanScoter Wins 10th Game of the Season - Everett AquaSox
- Record-Setting Crowd Sees Tri-City Bested by Everett - Tri-City Dust Devils
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
