T-Rat Talk: Hedbert Pérez
Most minor league players are pretty young when they come to Appleton for the first time, but even by that standard Timber Rattlers outfielder Hedbert Peréz stands out. Peréz was still 16 years old and a handful of months removed from signing his first professional contract during the summer of
Most minor league players are pretty young when they come to Appleton for the first time, but even by that standard Timber Rattlers outfielder Hedbert Peréz stands out.
Peréz was still 16 years old and a handful of months removed from signing his first professional contract during the summer of 2020 when the minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not wanting Peréz to lose a full season of development, the Brewers invited Peréz to their alternate training site at Neuroscience Group Field. That meant that instead of starting his professional career at the Brewers’ academy at the Dominican Republic the teenaged Peréz was elbow-to-elbow with current and future big leaguers.
“Every time I remember it, I was sixteen at the moment. I was trying to get everything in,” Peréz said. “Being around all of those big leaguers and AAA guys, it was just awesome. I saw Ryan Braun, Ray Black, they were here and I was trying to do my best but also enjoy the moment. It was just something that I really enjoyed while I was starting as a professional.”
Peréz is the son of six-year MLB outfielder and 24-year professional Robert Peréz, was the Brewers’ top international signing in the 2019 class and had already been playing with athletes well above his age and experience level, so Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both had him as the #3 prospect in the Brewers organization in 2021 when he was still 17 years old and had yet to appear in a regular season game at any professional level.
“I knew (about the rankings),” Peréz said. “At the end it’s like, that’s just something where it’s there but that’s not going to make you a big leaguer. You could be top ranked or not be ranked, either way you have to come in and give your effort, your one hundred percent. So I was aware of it, but now it’s just trying to do every single thing that’s going to make me a better player and go from there.”
Later that year Peréz played in 32 games in the Arizona Complex League and batted .333 with a .394 on-base and .575 slugging, continuing his rapid rise in the organization. He was promoted to Low-A Carolina late in the season and was the youngest player on the team that year by nine months.
You wanted it, YOU GOT IT! Hedbert Perez picked up two hits last night, including his first professional home run for ACL Brewers Gold. pic.twitter.com/9DL8LR36bu
— Brewers Player Development (@BrewersPD) July 14, 2021
Peréz returned to Carolina for his age 19 season in 2022 but struggled to repeat the success of the previous season. He led the Mudcats with 15 home runs but batted just .216 with a .272 on-base percentage and struck out 132 times in 407 at-bats. Peréz began to see his prospect status overshadowed a bit as he spent much of the year as a teammate to fellow Venezuelan teenagers Jackson Chourio and Jeferson Quero, who both had more successful all-around seasons and saw their stock rapidly climb.
Nonetheless, Peréz was a regular participant in Cactus League games for the Brewers in the spring of 2023, appearing in six games and making a big impression with a pair of extra base hits across just eight at bats. Then injuries came, however. Peréz was limited to just 63 games for Carolina that season and 19 in his High-A debut with Wisconsin in 2024.
Prospect rankings are a “what have you done for me lately?” business, and Peréz’s lack of playing time over the last two seasons has led to him falling off some evaluators’ radar screens as new talent enters the organization. There are eleven teenagers on MLB Pipeline’s current Brewers top 30 but Peréz, who just turned 22 in April, is not listed.
“I don’t really think a lot of that, but one thing that’s always in my mind is to get better, just come in no matter what and try to give my best and get better at every single thing in my game: speed, strength, everything. Just trying to get better,” Peréz said.
He’s only 17!
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 26, 2021
Hedbert Perez is showing off his defense. pic.twitter.com/I2CSTsiXwC
Longtime Brewers minor league manager and roving infield coach Mike Guerrero noted that while it feels like Peréz has been around a long time, the reality is that he’s still relatively early in his development. Peréz is still younger than the average Midwest League player in 2025.
“I think at an early age there is a lot of expectations that you would like to meet. You have to be able to erase all of that distraction around it and just focus on baseball. I think the biggest issue is that he has gotten hurt in a lot of the years and in reality he’s been around, but not that long. He got here at an early age but he’s still really young, you know?” Guerrero said.
While injuries have limited Peréz’s opportunities to get into regular season games, over the winter he did get an opportunity to play and learn in another highly competitive atmosphere: The 2024-25 winter was his second season but by far his most active in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he appeared in 31 games for his hometown Tiburones de La Guaira. He batted .304 with a .364 on-base and .494 slugging in 88 plate appearances despite being almost eight years younger than the league’s average player.
“I was really happy to play in Venezuela, in my hometown, to be able to play in front of my fans, family, friends and everything,” Peréz said. “It’s a really, really competitive league, so I’m just trying to get in there and win every single game. So it’s very competitive out there, but it was really fun.”
Many current and former major leaguers and players from other top international leagues play winter ball in Venezuela. This year Peréz’s La Guaira teammates included 21 players with MLB experience, an incredible learning opportunity for a young player.
“I feel like going down there made me realize how important every single pitch is, trying to slow down the game,” Peréz said. “It’s not just going out there and trying to hit for the fences every single time. It’s more of like, ‘Ok, there’s this situation, there’s the other one,’ trying to make a rally for the team and being mindful of the game and the scoreboard, just being able to know what I’m capable of at the moment.”
Hedbert Pérez y Roberto Álvarez @Tiburonesbbc_ junto a sus padres se unieron a los Urbano Lugo, los Domingo Carrasquel y los Joe Lis, como las parejas de padre e hijo que han participado en un No hit no run de la @LVBP_Oficial
— Tony Flores (@tonyfloresbbc) November 11, 2024
Solo los Lugo lo hicieron con el mismo equipo. pic.twitter.com/POY8ltKdp7
Finally healthy and back with Wisconsin in 2025, Peréz was able to shake off a slow start and make up for lost time. Over a 32-game stretch from April 19 through May 27 he hit .274 with a .384 on-base and .504 slugging. He was Minor League Baseball’s Player of the Week following a series in South Bend where he went 10-for-22 at the plate with a pair of home runs.
“It’s just trusting what I’ve been doing, trusting the work I put in every single day,” Peréz said of his successful run.
2 home runs, a .478 OBP, .773 SLG and a 1.251 OPS powers Hedbert Perez to the Midwest League Player of the Week!#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/xrTbIM54To
— Brewers Player Development (@BrewersPD) May 27, 2025
A scary moment put a sudden end to Peréz’s hot streak, however: In the May 27 game against Peoria he slid headfirst into second base on a stolen base attempt and felt something in his shoulder. He left that game and was out for more than a week, a relatively minor setback that seemed scarier at the time given his injury history.
“I was a little scared about it, but I’m just thankful that it wasn’t anything too serious, and I’m just trying to stay in my routine and get my treatment in, but everything’s going pretty good,” Peréz said. He has since returned to the lineup as a designated hitter, but has been limited to that role.
Behind the scenes Peréz plays another important role. He grew up attending a bilingual school in Venezuela and is fluent in both Spanish and English, a skill that makes him extremely valuable to teammates that only speak one language or the other.
“I’m a team guy, I love helping my teammates, anyone that needs help with me to translate something I’m always there, always available. I feel happy that I can be that helpful for them,” Peréz said.
Back on the field, however, Peréz and his teammates all share the same goals: Play well, win games and continue to advance in the organization.
“For us we still believe that he has the talent, but he needs to go out there and perform, just like everybody else,” Guerrero said. “At some point the process and results come in hand, and we’re looking forward for him to fulfill all the expectations that he had at an early age. We believe the talent is there, and it’s just a matter of time for him to put everything together.”