Royals' Sal Perez tears knee ligament lifting suitcase, slipping on stair
For at least the first month of the 2018 season, the Royals will be without four-time Gold Glove catcher Salvador Perez.
The day before they were scheduled to open the season with a 3:15 p.m. game against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals on Wednesday announced that Perez will miss four to six weeks with a torn ligament in his left knee.
Perez said he missed a stair in his home Tuesday night as he carried a suitcase up to his bedroom. He lost his balance as he tried to find solid ground beneath his feet. He heard a pop in his knee as he fell.
An MRI revealed a Grade 2 tear of the knee's medial collateral ligament. The Royals do not think the injury will require surgery but will reevaluate Perez, who was wearing a black brace when he limped into the interview room to address reporters on Wednesday, in about two weeks.
“I put in a lot of work to be here,” Perez said. “Be behind home plate tomorrow. I wanted to be there.”
But since he won’t be, the Royals will rely on Drew Butera, who has played 167 games at catcher since being acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in a May 2015 trade.
Cam Gallagher, who was optioned to Class AAA Omaha in the final week of spring training, will share the workload.
From a competitive standpoint, the Royals lost not only one of their emotional leaders in the clubhouse and on the field, but one of their most productive players, too.
Perez hit .268 with 27 home runs and 80 RBIs last season. Butera batted .227 with three homers and 14 RBIs, while Gallagher hit .250 with one home run and five RBIs in a scant 24 big-league at-bats.
This isn't the first time Butera and Gallagher have been called on to fill in for the perennial All-Star. Perez was placed on the 10-day disabled list last season after he strained the intercostal muscle in his right side in early August.
He missed about two weeks during the most critical juncture in the Royals' 2017 campaign. The Royals had just roared into American League wild-card contention and were in second place on Aug. 5, 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Yankees. By Perez's return on Aug. 22, they were in fourth place, 1 1/2 games behind the second-place Twins.
The Royals, who chose to keep their 2015 World Series championship core intact at the July trade deadline in hopes they might return to the postseason, never recovered. They ended the season five games out of the second wild-card spot and with an 80-82 record.
“He’s distraught," Royals manager Ned Yost said of Perez, "but we’ll find a way to deal with it.
"Hopefully it’s shorter (of a recovery time) than longer. We’ll see how it goes.”
Perez has started 647 games at catcher since 2013, the most in MLB in that span.
Had Perez gotten hurt playing, the injury might have been easier to swallow.
But instead, Perez had to stay still in his house for five minutes Tuesday night, unable to feel his knee and dreading the phone call he knew he had to make to Royals trainer Nick Kenney.
“It’s kind of weird. I was talking with my mom last night and I feel sad,” Perez said. “Because if I get hurt playing, that’s what I’m doing. You play hard every day. That’s gonna happen. … It’s a little hard for me.”
The Royals will delay setting their 25-man roster until Thursday morning.
“I told him today, 'We’re gonna hold it down for you while you’re gone,'” said pitcher Danny Duffy, the Royals' opening day starter. “Don’t worry about it. You’re gonna be a huge part of this team, on or off the field. You always are.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2018 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Royals' Sal Perez tears knee ligament lifting suitcase, slipping on stair."