Brewers Smartly Bring Back Clubhouse Favorite Hernan Perez

The Milwaukee Brewers have brought back a longtime favorite in Hernan Perez on a minor league deal.

The Brewers let Hernan Perez go after the 2019 season. It made roster sense at the time, but Perez had been a favorite of the fans and a favorite in the clubhouse. The emotional loss of Perez was bigger than the loss on the field.

He signed with the rival Cubs last year and only played in three games. Then he signed late with the Washington Nationals this year and had just one hit in 19 at-bats and was designated for assignment.

Perez elected free agency the other day, and once he hit the market, a reunion with the Brewers made a lot of sense.

The Brewers signed back Hernan Perez after a rash of injuries decimated their infield depth.

Milwaukee originally didn’t need Perez, but Daniel Robertson, Jace Peterson, Derek Fisher, Tim Lopes, and Mark Mathias have suffered injuries. The utility infielder for the Brewers now is Pablo Reyes. He had a nice spring training, but this is hardly an ideal scenario.

For Perez, a reunion with the Brewers makes a lot of sense. Milwaukee was where Perez was most utilized, where he was most successful, and where he had great respect. Perez was a huge piece of the Brewers clubhouse over the past several years and he brought the fun as much as anybody.

In parts of five seasons with the Brewers, Hernan Perez is a .258 hitter with a .688 OPS. He’s not a world-beater, and he’s not going to supercharge the offense with his bat, but he’s a serviceable utility man that can come up clutch in key moments and play wherever needed.

Perhaps a return back home to Milwaukee will help Perez find his bat again after two rough starts, albeit in very small samples, with the Cubs and Nationals.

Perez will go to Triple-A Nashville to start, and he’ll enter the Brewers testing protocols and get a chance to get some at-bats. If he starts hitting pretty well, he could get a call up fairly quickly as the big league club still needs some help at their utility infield spot.

A return of Perez to the Brewers clubhouse will be a welcome sight for both players and fans. This was a smart move by Stearns to bring back a clubhouse favorite that knows the culture and shore up his decimated infield depth.

The Crew starts their series against the Marlins on Friday night and after that series is over, they will finally have their first off day in 17 days.