Joe Perez joined the system via the 2017 draft, but we wouldn’t see him make his full season debut until 2021 thanks to a variety of factors. He was still recovering from surgery when selected and wasn’t healthy enough to debut at all that year, and his 2018 rookie ball campaign would be cut almost equally short, after just 4 games. He got a bit more action in 2019, managing to stay out there for 50 NYPL games, but there was apparent rust as he hit just .188 in 195 PAs with a 27.7% strikeout rate.
The NYPL stint wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring, but it did provide some momentum for Perez in the sense that he had some games under his belt and health on his side.