Guam pitcher signs minor league deal with Atlanta Braves

Guam - Local boy Peter Perez Jr. was recently picked up by the Atlanta Braves Baseball organization, signing a minor league contract with the team. Peter is a pitcher who made the switch to reliever and recorded 40 strikeouts in about 60 innings and posted an ERA of 3.0 while playing ball for the Southern Illinois Miners in the Frontier League.

Perez told KUAM News, "In the summer I was playing for an independent team called the Southern Illinois Miners and I guess I had a pretty good year with the number I put up and the Braves organization were impressed by it. What they did is, people from the Braves organization called my manager at the time. His name is Mike Pinto and they called him and told him that they would like to pick up my contract from him. So Mike and the Braves organization talked about it. When Mike handed the contract over to the Braves he called me and told me that the Braves had called him and said they were interested in me and they picked up your contract from me. So after I got off the phone with Mike about 15 minutes later one of the guys from the Braves called me and gave me the whole run down and pretty much told me that they are interested in me and they bought my contract and that they are going to sign me and that I would be invited to spring training to compete and earn my spot for this upcoming season."

What kind of advice does he have for future kids who want to follow in the footsteps of himself and Trae Santos, who was recently drafted by the San Diego Padres and realize that they can play ball at that next level?

Perez said, "Work hard every day . Every day you take off someone's getting better to take your spot. It's a lot of work and even when things aren't going well you have to stick through it. Baseball at the end of the day is a business and it's going to come down to the best of the best. So the harder you work the luckier you are going to be and in this game you're going to need a lot of luck. The way I look at it is I have to work really hard and so far it's paying off and I'm happy about it and I'm privileged and I'm honored. You have to stay humble, this game will be taken away from you as quick as it came so just work hard stay positive. Try to not let the game speed up on you, take it slow and remember it's still a kid's game."

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