Salvador Perez impressed Royals, fans with these plays at first base

Two weeks ago, Royals catcher Salvador Perez earned his sixth consecutive All-Star nod because he’s earned respect for his skills behind the plate.

He may soon begin to earn respect at first base, too.

In Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Tigers, Perez made a few impressive plays while making his third career start and fifth appearance at first.

He charged a ground ball hit by Jim Adduci to the right side in the fifth inning. He missed and ran back to grab the baseball. Before he’d grounded himself or gotten a good look at first base, Perez flipped the ball from behind his back to starting pitcher Heath Fillmyer. Fillmyer hauled the throw in for the first out of the inning.

The play sent the crowd into a tizzy and caused Perez to doff his cap.

“It was great,” said Fillmyer. “It was a hell of a play.”

When Whit Merrifield ranged across the infield to steal a hit from Jose Iglesias two batters later, Perez planted his foot on the first-base bag and stretched to scoop Merrifield’s throw. Iglesias was ruled safe, but the Royals made a successful challenge to get the call overturned.

“Salvy’s played first before,” manager Ned Yost said. “He’s got experience over there. He’s got really, really good hands, and he’s got good feet. He’s athletic for a big guy. I don’t have any concerns when I put him over there, knowing that he’s gonna be able to play the position adequately. He can stretch, he can do a lot of things over there.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2018 at 1:08 AM.