The Houston Astros traded left-hander Cionel Perez to the Cincinnati Reds for minor league catcher Luke Berryhill, both teams announced Saturday.
Perez, 24, appeared in seven games out of the Houston bullpen in 2020 and posted a 2.84 ERA with eight strikeouts and six walks in 6 1/3 innings.
Perez is 1-1 with a 5.74 ERA, 27 strikeouts and 15 walks in 26 2/3 innings spanning 20 relief appearances over the last three seasons.
The Cuba native was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in the 2017 international class, the 11th-best prospect in the Double-A Texas League in 2018 and one of the Astros’ top prospects in both 2018 (No. 13) and 2019 (No. 12).
Berryhill, 22, did not appear in any games last season due to the pandemic-related cancellation of the minor league season.
Drafted in the 13th round in 2019 out of the University of South Carolina, Berryhill hit .240 with one home run and five RBIs in eight games that season at rookie-level Greeneville.
In 56 games for the Gamecocks in 2019, he batted .271 with 15 doubles, 12 home runs and 49 RBIs while posting a .538 slugging percentage.
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–Field Level Media