Aaron Perry via his Instagram

I knew that Aaron Perry was coming to the Cubs when his dad began following me on Twitter. That’s usually when it begins. It wasn’t announced for a few days, but I had a feeling that he was coming.

Basic info

Height – 5 foot 11
Wait – 175
Throws right
From hurricane, West Virginia
Drafted in the 14th round of the 2017 draft by the Boston Red Sox

Drafting a high school pitcher on day 3 of the draft is always tricky as they do take a little bit longer to develop. For Perry, he did not throw that first summer of 2017 after signing and then he did not throw either in 2018. He actually did not debut until 2019 in the Gulf Coast Rookie League. 

It was in Florida that he got in 21 innings with a 3.00 ERA. He played in nine games and started five. Things looked to be off to a good start. And then Covid hit.

When baseball returned in 2021, there was no short season ball and Perry wound up at low A Salem where he got in 13 games but only started once and struggled with a 6.65 ERA on the year. However, he did strike out 33 in his 23 innings. 

The injury bug hit again and he did not pitch in 2022 very much. He got in three games in Greenville and did not allow ra un. The Red Sox decided to challenge him in the Arizona Fall League and that did not go well with an ERA over 12.

When 2023 came around, Perry struggled at Greenville with an ERA above nine. He then was released by the Red Sox.

The thing that keeps sticking out is that he does miss bats. Even though he had a bad 23 season, he still struck out 28 in 21 innings. Back then, he was more slider heavy but struggled with location.

Perry went the independent ball route and showed up in Lexington this spring. In six innings, he struck out 12 guys and did not allow a run. Needless to say the Cubs signed him.

Even though he starting out in Arizona to sort of go through the Cubs way, hhe was whisked away to South Bend. In his first outing, the tossed two frames and did allow a run despite the defense struggling with 3 errors behind him.

At 24, I would not be surprised if he spends in a while in South Bend. Whether he is a reliever or a starter is up in the air. I would lean as a bullpen arm.