Players

Henderson Perez joined the Sioux City Explorers after spending the 2023 season overseas in the Italian Serie A. Perez is a 24-year-old catcher who has been playing professional or affiliated baseball since 2016 after signing with the Chicago Cubs. Before he went overseas, he spent two seasons in MLB Partner Leagues, batting .254 with a .675 OPS over 56 games.

Last season with Fortitudo in the Italian Serie A, the righty bat hit .270 with a .413 on-base percentage over 13 games. He was able to score five runs in those games along with knocking seven RBIs.

Prior to Fortitudo, Perez spent the first part of the 2022 season with the Missoula PaddleHeads, appearing in 31 games during his time in the Pioneer League. Over those games, he had a .257 batting average to pair with a .374 OBP. He also had a .711 OPS while getting 11 RBIs with one homer. After he was released in August, he signed with the Lexington Legends in the Atlantic League. As part of the Legends, he played in 14 games with 43 plate appearances, showing off his on-base skills over his time there. In that stretch, he batted .235 but put up an impressive .381 on-base percentage.

In 2021, the catcher played solely for Grand Junction in the Pioneer League, batting .262 over 11 games. He struck out 10 times but had five runs and two RBIs.

Prior to joining MLB Partner Leagues, Perez played in the Cubs organization. 2019 was his last year in affiliated ball when he spent his time with the AZL Cubs in the Arizona League of rookie ball. Across 24 games, he had a .222 batting average and .319 on-base percentage. Between June 17 and July 10, he was playing some of his best baseball, posting a .289 average with a .772 OPS over those 14 games.

2018 was the Venezuelan native’s first season in rookie ball after earning the call-up from the Dominican Summer League between seasons. 2018 was his best season in affiliated ball, working a .277 batting average and a .712 OPS. He had nine extra-base hits over those 43 games and picked up 24 RBIs. After a bit of a cool start to the year, he heated up quickly and from July 12thonward, he hit .324 with an .833 OPS overs the final 32 games.

In 2017, the then-18-year-old played his final season in the Dominican Summer League, getting on-base a .343 clip over the 51-game season. He hit two homers across the year and had 22 RBIs. The year before was his first affiliated season, playing in 46 games for the DSL Cubs 1. Across the year, he stole nine bags while getting thrown out four times and had a .226 batting average with a .604 OPS.