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Indians starting catcher Roberto Pérez underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in his right ankle, the team announced on Thursday.
Medical Update
— Tribeinsider (@tribeinsider) October 17, 2019
+C Roberto Pérez underwent arthroscopic surgery this morning to remove bone spurs from his right ankle.
+Procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in Green Bay, WI.
+Expected to be ready for unrestricted baseball activity at the start of Spring Training.
Dr. Robert Anderson, who performed the operation, is about as good as you can get as far as getting a guy to remove junk from athlete’s ankles. An associate team physician for the Green Bay Packers, Anderson seems to be the best of the best. You could say he’s the Roberto Pérez of ankle surgeons.
Last season, Pérez flourished for the Indians as he filled in the vacancy left by long-time starting catcher Yan Gomes. In 449 plate appearences (a career high), he slashed .239/.321/.452 with 24 home runs and a 10.0% walk rate. He finished second in Baseball Prospectus’ well-respected framing runs above average stat, saving the Indians an estimated 25.6 runs over the course of the season. He trailed only Austin Hedges and his 27.8 framing runs above average adjusted.
Should there be some kind of setback for Pérez that causes him to miss part of the 2020 season, the Indians have Kevin Plawecki heading into his second year of arbitration, and they also have the power-hitting Eric Haase knocking on the major-league door any minute.