Completely forgotten Cubs minor leaguer has put up monster numbers at Iowa

Over the course of the season, the Chicago Cubs, like plenty of other teams, have those guys down in the minors that everyone forgets about. Sometimes they're guys that come up for an at-bat or two and then go back, down, never to be thought of again. And sometimes there are guys like Carlos Perez who aren't even sniffing the major leagues, even though he's had a very nice season down on the farm.

Perez is one of those guys who has gotten a taste of the Big Leagues every now and then. He started his professional baseball career back in 2008 and finally got the call-up to the Major Leagues in 2015 with the Angels. Beginning in 2019, he toiled in the minors for several more years before coming back up with the A's in 2023, but he's only played in the minors since then.

Over the winter, the Chicago Cubs signed Perez to give the team some more organizational depth at catcher. It's possible that after Miguel Amaya got hurt. Then, several other catchers were injured, and Perez might have gotten the call-up, but that was always a long shot. And yet, the veteran ballplayer has put together a heck of a 2025 in Triple-A Iowa, even if he knew the chances of promotion were slim.

Carlos Perez is posting elite numbers for the Iowa Cubs in 2025

In 105 games with the Iowa Cubs, Perez posted a .292/.377/.589/.967 slashline. For the second straight minor league season, the veteran catcher slugged 27 home runs.

Of course, hitting minor league pitching has never been the problem. In 17 seasons, Perez slashed .278/.355/.470/.826 with 166 homers and 736 RBI. He even stole 35 bases.

Compare that to his career major league stats, where in parts of five seasons he posted a .218/.265/.327/.592 slashline in 280 games.

Even though Carlos Perez is almost certainly not going to see any time with the Chicago Cubs this year, what he's done with Iowa, including showing the young guys the right way to play, is something to be impressed by.