This story was excerpted from Jake Rill¡¯s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles¡¯ bullpen is typically filled with hijinks and lighthearted antics throughout every game, and particularly before it¡¯s time for the relievers to go to work.

Cionel Pérez plays a game of his own in the ¡®pen, especially while stationed in the one at Camden Yards: He attempts to catch home run balls.

¡°Any time the guys get up to the plate, we¡¯re always expecting them to hit it out of the ballpark,¡± P¨¦rez said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. ¡°I¡¯m always the first one that gets up and tries to catch the ball whenever it¡¯s up in the air.¡±

The 28-year-old left-hander has become quite good at it, too.

Baltimore¡¯s home bullpen is located in left-center field, so it¡¯s in a prime spot for right-handed hitters to slug balls over the wall. But lefty hitters can muscle them that way as well, like Colton Cowser did on June 27.

During the Orioles¡¯ 11-2 series-opening win over the Rangers, Cowser hit a 411-foot homer to left-center. P¨¦rez saw it coming toward the ¡®pen, quickly hopped up from his seat, took his hat off his head, ranged a few feet to his right and then used the cap to make a picture-perfect snag.

Bullpen catcher Ben Carhart and closer Craig Kimbrel both raised their arms in celebration. Joel Polanco, another bullpen catcher, started clapping his hands. Right-hander Yennier Cano smiled while giving P¨¦rez a point of acknowledgement.

¡°Sometimes, the ball will hit his hat and either the ball will pop out or his hat will fall,¡± Cano said via Quinones. ¡°But that night in particular, he told me that he was really happy that he caught it, because there¡¯s a part of the hat that opens up, and so the ball landed perfectly into that spot. So he was really happy. He was running around like a little kid after he caught it.¡±

It wasn¡¯t P¨¦rez¡¯s first bullpen homer catch in his seven-year big league career, or even his first one this season. The Orioles lead the Majors with 139 home runs in 2024, so P¨¦rez is getting plenty of opportunities.

On June 11, Jorge Mateo slugged a three-run homer off Braves left-hander Max Fried during the second inning of a 4-0 Orioles win. The 402-foot blast was headed for the far-left side of Baltimore¡¯s bullpen, where it seemed like nobody would catch it.

But P¨¦rez can cover ground quickly out there. He jumped up, scurried over to get into a better position and caught the homer in his hat.

On April 21, 2023, P¨¦rez nearly caught an Austin Hays homer, but the ball deflected off his hat, as it proved to be just out of his reach. The next day, P¨¦rez got home run redemption, as he completed a low grab on a James McCann long ball.

The other relievers in the Orioles¡¯ bullpen always get a laugh out of P¨¦rez¡¯s high-effort chases -- and his reactions when he¡¯s successful.

¡°He looks as if he were the one that hit the home run or he made some spectacular play, just because he caught the home run ball,¡± Cano joked. ¡°So it¡¯s always pretty funny.¡±

Does P¨¦rez, who finished the season with seven hat catches, have any tips or tricks for catching homer balls now that he has several on his highlight reel?

¡°Not really anything to it,¡± P¨¦rez said. ¡°Just whenever I see the ball go out there, I try to catch the ball.¡±

Seems simple enough. But not every reliever tries to do it.

In fact, Cano knows he couldn¡¯t replicate any of P¨¦rez¡¯s grabs, so the 30-year-old setup man doesn¡¯t typically even try to do so.

¡°Not really. I¡¯m really bad at catching fly balls,¡± Cano said with a smile. ¡°My thing is more fielding grounders.¡±