Francisco Pérez (baseball)

Francisco Alberto Pérez (born July 20, 1997) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher in the Oakland Athletics organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals and the Athletics.

Cleveland Indians
Pérez signed with Indians as an international free agent on December 12, 2014. He spent his first season in professional baseball with the Dominican Summer League Indians. Pérez spent the 2016 season with the Arizona League Indians, logging a 2.69 ERA in 12 games. The following season, Pérez played for the Low-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers, recording a 4–4 record and 3.28 ERA in 15 starts for the team. He spent the 2018 season with the Single-A Lake County Captains, pitching to an 8–10 record and 4.07 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 26 games (25 of them starts). Pérez only appeared in 8 games in 2019 due to injury and did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pérez began the 2021 season with the Akron RubberDucks of the Double-A Northeast and was promoted to the Columbus Clippers of the Triple-A East on June 20, 2021. The Indians called up him up to the majors for the first time on August 9, 2021. Pérez made his major league debut on August 12, 2021, giving up three earned runs in $1 1⁄3$ innings of relief. He finished out his rookie campaign with a 4.05 ERA in 4 major league games.

Washington Nationals
On November 5, 2021, the Washington Nationals claimed Pérez off waivers. Pérez made 10 appearances for Washington in 2022, struggling to a 7.27 ERA with 7 strikeouts and 9 walks in 8.2 innings pitched. On November 10, 2022, Pérez was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. He elected minor league free agency the same day.

On January 4, 2023, Pérez re-signed with the Nationals organization on a minor league contract. He spent spring training with the team, but did not make the team and was reassigned to minor-league camp. Pérez was later released by the organization on March 24.

Oakland Athletics
On April 21, 2023, Pérez signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics organization. In 30 appearances split between the Double–A Midland RockHounds and Triple–A Las Vegas Aviators, he recorded a cumulative 4.43 ERA and 53 strikeouts in $40 2⁄3$ innings of work. On August 12, Oakland selected Pérez's contract, adding him to the major league roster. In 17 games for the A's, he registered a 5.94 ERA with 14 strikeouts across $16 2⁄3$ innings of work.

On February 1, 2024, Pérez was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Triple–A. However, on February 7, Pérez rejected the assignment and elected free agency. He re-signed with the A's on a minor league contract the following day.