Jhonny Pereda makes his MLB debut after 11 seasons on the farm

Daniel Rodriguez · April 17, 2024

The journeyman catcher garnered praise from Skip Schumaker and Trevor Rogers after debuting for the Marlins on Wednesday.

MIAMI, FL—Two days ago, Jhonny Pereda was in Orlando enjoying a day off from baseball. Now, he is the starting catcher for the Marlins in a Major League game. How did we get here?

For more than a decade, Pereda had been in the minors battling for a shot at the highest level. He was signed by the Chicago Cubs out of Venezuela during the 2012-13 international period, debuting in affiliated ball at just 17 years old in the Venezuelan Summer League. He repeated the level before coming stateside for the 2015 season. Pereda had a rocky transition as he slashed .143/.225/.229 in the Arizona League. However, he gradually improved and has gone on to spend 11 seasons in the minors, bouncing around five different organizations in hopes of making a major league roster, including four separate stints at Triple-A. In 691 total MiLB games, he slashed a combined .258/.346/.341.

The 27-year-old catcher received an early birthday present—he turns 28 on Thursday—when he was selected to take Christian Bethancourt's spot on the Marlins roster as Bethancourt continues to fight an illness on the 10-day IL. He saw his first game action on Wednesday in the series finale against the San Francisco Giants, forming a battery with left-hander Trevor Rogers.

Offensively for Pereda, he failed to register a hit in his two at-bats. He struck out vs. Keaton Winn on a pitch that was framed very well by Patrick Bailey, so that might've been a taste of his own medicine. In his other at-bat, though, Pereda had the second-highest exit velo on the Marlins with a 104.9 MPH grounder.

Following the game, Jazz Chisholm Jr. playfully asked Pereda in front of the assembled media, "How does it feel to hit the ball as hard as you did in your first MLB game?" Pereda responded, "I practiced hitting that pitch all day and it didn't go where I wanted it, but it was important to make hard contact." Pereda continues to have a great attitude about his offense and the chemistry he's building not just with the pitchers but all of his new teammates.

Pereda helped Rogers to his best start of the season (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 93/59 P/S). His pitch framing made an impact on a Patrick Bailey strikeout in the second inning and a called strike to Austin Slater in the sixth. Although Pereda at times bobbled some pitches which were easily thrown strikes, that may just be a sign of debut nerves.

Aside from that, Pereda received praise from manager Skip Schumaker after his first start: "Jhonny looked really good back there with (Rogers) for his debut. They were really working well together. The conversations were great." Rogers said, "I think Pereda and I really had like a solid game plan, constantly talking between innings, really just had that dialogue. 'Hey, what do you want to do here? What do you want to start out with?' And it was really good."