Tigers' Wenceel Pérez has a field day showing his developmental success
He was coming off a nice year at the plate, but with Colt Keith at second base and so much other young talent in the system, was he really going to have a place in the Detroit Tigers' future?
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It felt like a fair question.
Look at Pérez now, blasting balls all around the yard from both sides of the plate, slashing a game-tying double down the right-field line Tuesday against the Athletics, hosing down two runners at second base in the same inning, all from his new home in right field.
Pérez's position switch changed his career. But the version of Pérez we've seen in 2025 — after his return from a back injury that delayed his start to the season — has been different even than the spark plug we saw in 2024.
'Last year was my first year,' Pérez said recently. 'I was trying to adjust every day. This year … I have a better routine and a better idea of what I'm doing.'
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch joked last week about how Pérez is breaking scouting reports. In 2024, he was a switch hitter who was effective only from the left side. His OPS as a right-handed hitter was .594. Then came a small tweak: closing off his stance, angling his front foot in to make sure he doesn't pull off the baseball.
So far this season, Pérez has six home runs in 75 at-bats. Three have come from the left side. Three have come from the right. His OPS is 1.007, aided by a 2-for-4 night in Tuesday's 11-4 victory against the A's.
During a stretch in which the Tigers' flaws have started to show, Pérez has been an energetic X-factor, helping his team hold its commanding 9 1/2-game lead in the American League Central.
'For as much as other guys get talked about, he has quietly been an instrumental part of our season once we got him back from injury,' Hinch said.
That arm, too, continues to play. In the seventh inning on Tuesday, Tyler Soderstrom hit a rocket liner over Pérez's head. Pérez got an awkward read. A year ago, Pérez might have botched that play entirely. Instead, Pérez froze, caught the ricochet off the right-field wall and fired an 83 mph bull's-eye to Javier Báez at second base. Soderstrom was out easily.
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Two batters later, Jacob Wilson hit a liner to right. Lead runner Denzel Clarke dashed toward third. Pérez did not make a foolish throw in. He did not split the runners. He did not even toss the ball to the cutoff man. Instead, he twirled and tossed another perfect one-hopper to second to nail Wilson.
In the dugout, starting pitcher Tarik Skubal turned to Hinch and asked, 'Have you ever seen that before?'
Hinch's answer: Not from the same player in the same inning.
TERRIBLE IDEA x2 pic.twitter.com/ym7sxXQd0w
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 25, 2025
The two outfield assists in the same inning were a product of more than a year of work behind the scenes. Last year, Pérez was plenty capable in the outfield — worth plus-1 defensive runs saved in right field — but at times looked awkward and unsure. This year, the actions are more natural, the movements more fluid.
'I don't know outs above average or defensive runs saved, but it feels like he accumulated a pretty good amount of WAR tonight,' Skubal said.
Said Hinch: 'I see him slowing the game down and maintaining his rhythm and his timing and his fundamentals. … He's not slow, but he's slowing the game down, and that's encouraging.'
All of that was only part of what Pérez did in the Tigers' 50th victory of the season. He singled in the bottom half of the seventh and later dashed around third to score on an overthrow to the plate, sliding in headfirst. In the ninth, Pérez made a sliding catch for the final out of the game.
His favorite defensive moment of the night?
'I think all three were the favorite,' he joked.
On his way off the field, Jahmai Jones waved his hands, mocking a bow to Pérez's prowess. The infielder turned outfielder flashed a big grin. This is the type of development story the Tigers love. Pérez is the type of player who forms the backbone of this team.
'That speaks to who he is,' Skubal said. 'When I came up with him in the minor leagues, he was a shortstop with a very good arm. They put him in the outfield, and he can kind of roam free and let that arm go.'
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