The way Miguel Perez sees it, the catcher has the VIP seat of the game. He’s the one in charge of making sure there’s a winning mindset on the field, who needs to care of the pitcher on the mound.
A lot of those traits carried over as Perez made the transition from Minor League catcher to Minor League coach. Now, he has a new role in front of him, being announced as the Pirates’ bullpen coach.
“I'm excited about this role, bringing the experience I have of being a catcher,” Perez said over Zoom Friday. “That's what makes me excited about it. I love to build relationships with the pitchers. That was my strength back when I played. I'm going to reinforce a winning mindset in this.”
It’s been a long journey back to the Majors for Perez, who briefly played for the Reds in 2005. He signed with the Pirates as a Minor League free agent in ‘07 and spent most of the next 17 years in the organization. He made the transition to coaching in '14 and managed at four different levels of the Minor League system, including Triple-A Indianapolis the past three years.
“This has been a process,” Perez said. “I've been blessed about this process. So many players that I have seen, that I have coached, so many players that have reached out after the news, it's been great. I really appreciate the whole process.”
In his time as manager, Perez has been regarded as one of the top coaches in the organization’s farm system. He got to tell 30 different players that they were going up to the Majors for the first time the past three seasons, and he was the recipient of the organization’s Chuck Tanner Award during Spring Training in 2020, which is given by the Pirates’ player development department recognizing a Minor League staff member who best exemplifies Tanner’s optimism, work ethic and leadership.
“Miggy is one of the most highly respected members of our player development system who has not only had a meaningful impact on our players but also other managers and coaches throughout the organization,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “His passion for the organization, along with all the other intangibles that he will bring to our staff and players, is something that we are excited about at the big league level.”
Fixing the bullpen is going to be imperative if the Pirates are going to take a step forward in 2025. The team believed it was going to have one of the top bullpens in the game last year -- and many prognosticators and projection models agreed -- but the group battled injuries and underperformed, finishing with a 4.49 ERA and 29 blown saves, both of which ranked 27th in the Majors.
That poor bullpen performance led to the dismissal of bullpen coach Justin Meccage. The Pirates also added veteran coach Brent Strom as an assistant pitching coach this winter.
Strom is a newcomer with a wealth of Major League experience. The flip side is Perez knows this pitching staff. Every pitcher on the 40 man roster -- outside of Dennis Santana, Joey Wentz and newcomer Peter Strzelecki -- has worked with Perez in Indianapolis at some point. There’s also plenty of talent on the way, with three pitchers on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list who finished last season with Indianapolis (No. 15 Bubba Chandler, No. 85 Braxton Ashcraft and No. 91 Thomas Harrington).
The Pirates are looking to add to their bullpen this winter, but they’re also banking on some bounce-back performances from some of their key arms and continued development from others. Perez welcomes the opportunity.
“Being able to be sitting next to them at the highest level and being able to keep pushing them and get the best version of them would be great for me,” Perez said. “It's exciting. I cannot be more grateful to be part of their process. Bullpen's gonna be strong.”