Royals won’t use personal catcher system to give Salvador Perez rest in 2015

When the Royals arrived last month at spring training, manager Ned Yost came equipped with a potential plan to preserve two-time All-Star catcher Salvador Perez.

Yost had talked up the idea all winter, mentioning the merits of pairing the team’s backup catcher with a member of the starting rotation to build a day of rest into Perez’s schedule.

On Wednesday, a few hours before Perez made his third start behind the plate this spring, Yost indicated that plan had been discarded. After internal discussions, the organization has opted against assigning the reserve catcher, expected to be Erik Kratz, to one specific pitcher. The club will levy days off to Perez on a more fluid basis.

Or, as Yost put it on several occasions before a 4-3 victory over San Diego, “We’ll figure it out.”

General manager Dayton Moore indicated the front office and medical staff stood on the same page with Yost in terms of Perez’s playing time. Moore emphasized the folly of attempting to map out a season before it begins.

“I think it’s dangerous sometimes to make advance decisions when it comes to lineups and matchups,” Moore said. “There’s certainly tendencies and things that you talk about and try to prepare for. I don’t think it makes sense to make decisions before you have to.”

Perez won’t turn 25 until May. His five-year, $7 million contract is the envy of front offices throughout the game. Yet his usage last season demonstrated the perils of overexposure.

As the season progresses, an organic solution could emerge. The current strategy still resembles the one that the Royals attempted last season. Perez endured one of the most burdensome campaigns for a catcher in modern baseball history. He led all backstops with 143 games caught during the regular season and added 15 more in October. The 158-game total is considered a big-league record by STATS LLC.

With the Royals vying for a playoff spot, Perez caught every single game in September. Yost envisioned a similar scenario could unfold this season. Perez must be prepared to handle the assignment.

Yost suggested the schedule would guide him. He pointed to a bevy of opportunities in the early months of the season. The calendar features two open dates in April and three in May. Yost likes to sit Perez the game before a day off, to create a two-day period of rest. He intends to be more vigilant during the summer.

“I need to rest him more in the middle than I do the first half or the second half,” Yost said.

Perez received scant downtime in any portion of 2014. His statistics reflected the strain. Before the All-Star break, Perez produced a .765 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, a mark close to his .782 OPS during his first three seasons. In the second half, his OPS sank to .595. He was dreadful for most of the postseason. He hit .333 in the World Series but only boosted his October OPS to a mere .509.

Along the way he became the least-disciplined hitter in the majors. He swung at 52.6 percent of the pitches he saw outside the strike zone, according to FanGraphs. He swung at 82.8 percent of the pitches he saw inside the strike zone. He led all qualified hitters in both categories.

After the season, some Royals officials, including Yost, indicated fatigue contributed to Perez’s decline. This was how the initial concept of using the backup as a personal catcher became public knowledge.

Yost discussed the topic on multiple occasions. At the winter meetings, he insisted Perez required rest.

“I can’t catch Sal 150 games again,” Yost said. “I can’t. I’ll kill the kid.”

A month later, at FanFest in Kansas City, Yost reiterated the usefulness of the personal catcher plan.

“If I don’t, it’s hard for me to give Salvador a day off,” Yost said. “It’s just hard for me. I just like when he’s in the lineup. So I’ve almost got to force myself that way.”

The club has been cautious with Perez thus far in the Cactus League. He will catch three innings on Thursday with Edinson Volquez, the lone new addition to the rotation this winter, then depart the proceedings.

Once the club breaks camp, the real challenge begins.

“It’s tough,” Yost said. “But we’ll figure it out.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Royals won’t use personal catcher system to give Salvador Perez rest in 2015."