Today: WAS Prospect Beltran Perez
Originally a highly-touted Diamondbacks prospect, flame-throwing relief pitcher Beltran Perez also visited the L.A. Dodgers organization on his way to Washington.
Bouncing between starting and relief roles, Beltran has built up a 4.26 ERA across in 118 starts and 90 relief appearances. His high strikeout rate and strikeout to walk ratio (705:292 overall) is one reason that his best possible future may be in an eighth or ninth inning shutdown role, but the Nationals have entertained moving Perez back to the rotation, too.
After an impressive AA stint in 2006, Perez even made three starts for Washington late in the year (3.86 ERA, 2-1 record, including a complete game).
| Yr | Tm | Age | Lvl | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SH | GF | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | K/9 |
| 2000 | AZ Diamondbacks | 18 | R | 5 | 1 | 5.81 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48.0 | 61 | 37 | 31 | 1 | 25 | 47 | 8.81 |
| 2000 | High Desert | 18 | A+ | 0 | 1 | 3.60 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 9.90 |
| 2001 | South Bend | 19 | A | 12 | 4 | 2.81 | 27 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.0 | 142 | 59 | 50 | 10 | 35 | 157 | 8.83 |
| 2002 | Lancaster | 20 | A+ | 3 | 2 | 2.51 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32.1 | 31 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 8.35 |
| 2002 | El Paso | 20 | AA | 3 | 8 | 5.47 | 20 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.0 | 114 | 70 | 59 | 10 | 33 | 77 | 7.14 |
| 2003 | El Paso | 21 | AA | 2 | 11 | 5.30 | 29 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 147.2 | 180 | 94 | 87 | 13 | 54 | 88 | 5.36 |
| 2005 | Vero Beach | 23 | A+ | 3 | 2 | 3.78 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.1 | 31 | 15 | 14 | 3 | 15 | 33 | 8.91 | |
| 2005 | Jacksonville | 23 | AA | 2 | 3 | 2.90 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31.0 | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 32 | 9.29 | |
| 2006 | Harrisburg | 24 | AA | 8 | 6 | 3.11 | 31 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 121.2 | 127 | 53 | 42 | 8 | 40 | 107 | 7.92 |
| 2006 | Washington | 24 | MLB | 2 | 1 | 3.86 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21.0 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 3.86 |
| 2007 | Harrisburg | 25 | AA | 6 | 6 | 4.37 | 22 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115.1 | 126 | 62 | 56 | 17 | 36 | 62 | 4.84 |
| 2007 | Columbus | 25 | AAA | 1 | 1 | 7.27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8.31 |
| 2008 | Harrisburg | 26 | AA | 3 | 4 | 6.36 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 52.1 | 66 | 41 | 37 | 10 | 28 | 53 | 9.11 |
Perez's bread and butter is his fastball he can locate well. It has a tendency to drill in on righthanders, and can have late erratic movement away. He mixes in a late-breaking slider that can be a real plus pitch when harnessed properly. Perez's fastball averages 92-94mph as a starter, but he's been clocked above 98mph in relief work.
Jon Rauch looks like he's nailed down the closing role in Washington for 2008, and he may even be solid enough to encourage the Nats to move veteran closer Chad Cordero in the future. If that happens, Beltran Perez will be a hot commodity, as he has the stuff and the attitude to step up at any time.
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