DETROIT – Wenceel Pérez has been through plenty in his pro career, from a frustrating chase to add power to his speed early in his career to lingering back issues that slowed his climb up the farm system to throwing issues that set up his move to the outfield. He has worked through enough adversity to have history to lean on in times like this season.
As his second-inning loft to right field off a Grayson Rodriguez fastball cleared the right-field wall and crushed a fan’s beverage while they tried to catch it in the front row, there was no big celebration. He made the obligatory signal to the bullpen on his way around second base, slapped hands with third-base coach Joey Cora and the bat boy on his way home, then stepped on the plate. His fourth home run of the season was Thursday’s first run, and ultimately Detroit’s lone run in a 7-1 loss to the Angels in the rubber match of the three-game series.
It was hard to tell how badly Pérez needed that homer, or the one a couple days earlier in the series opener, given his .162 average and .455 OPS going into the series. But for Pérez, the home runs are a culmination of the work he has put in to get his swing in order and get back to becoming an offensive contributor for a Tigers lineup that needs him.
“It's been a lot,” Pérez said. “Getting here every day, try to work on something, try to figure it out. Sometimes you get it done and nothing comes out, but you keep doing it and doing it. It's baseball, and the good thing about it is every day is a new day to work on it.”
The Tigers managed just three hits Thursday. Pérez had two of them. His eighth-inning double down the right-field line off a Sam Bachman 98.7 mile-per-hour sinker was hit harder than his homer, and ignited a rally that loaded the bases before Bachman struck out Riley Greene to end the threat.
The 2-for-3 performance was just Pérez’s fourth multi-hit game of the season, and his first since May 8. He went 3-for-9 with three runs for the series. Nearly as important, he had no strikeouts, and hasn’t fanned since the first game of last Sunday’s doubleheader in Baltimore. He hasn’t swung and missed at a pitch since Tuesday’s series opener.
For Pérez, whose chase trends arguably cost him a roster spot out of Spring Training and were threatening to get him again amidst his most recent slump, it’s a step towards what made him a Major Leaguer in the first place.
“He's one that generally has always been a very good bat-to-ball guy,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He doesn't strike out a ton. He's going to put the ball in play. And then when you start getting your back up against the wall whenever you're struggling or your numbers are down, you're going to end up trying to do a little bit too much, or trying to swing at too many pitches and not controlling the strike zone.
“Obviously the right-handed pull homer [Tuesday], the left-handed pull homer [Thursday], he did both of those and they were good pitches to hit and he didn't miss them. When you get pitches at this level, no matter where you hit in the order, you've got to do something.”
That last part, doing damage on pitches in the strike zone, has been more of a focus for Pérez recently. He’s trying to work his swing to give himself as much opportunity to make quality contact.
“Just trying to get my barrel as much as I can in the strike zone,” he said. “I'm getting more time to hit the ball and get a better chance to hit the ball better.”
When he’s swinging right, it’s a strength. He ranked in the top 19 percent of MLB hitters in 2024 and 2025 in “launch angle sweet spot” – the range of launch angles (8-32 degrees) that tends to yield the most productive hits. He entered Thursday in the bottom two percent among MLB hitters in that same category. His average exit velocity has also taken a precipitous drop.
His average bat speed and percentage of fast swings (75 mph or higher) are both up from his first two years, yet he has had little to show for it. His adjustments are starting to turn that.
“I just feel better as a hitter, getting those hits,” Pérez said. “It makes you feel more comfortable at the plate. And then try to work on everything that's going to make me better, try to work through the ball, get some extension on it. Been feeling better.”