Royals’ Sal Perez, Brad Keller and Alex Gordon garner team awards for 2020
The Kansas City Royals announced their 2020 team award winners, led by catcher Salvador Perez, who was voted the Les Milgram Player of the Year.
Right-handed pitcher Brad Keller garnered the Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year award, and outfielder Alex Gordon received the Joe Burke Special Achievement Award.
The awards, voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, were announced on Friday morning.
Perez, coming off of Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2019 season, batted a career-best .333 with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs in 37 games. He also belted 12 doubles, scored 22 runs and registered a .353 on-base percentage and a career-high .633 slugging percentage. His 11 home runs tied for third-most by a player who played 37 games or fewer.
Perez, 30, also earned All-MLB First Team honors, his third Silver Slugger Award and the American League Comeback Player of the Year award.
Keller, who also won the team Pitcher of the Year honor in 2018, got a late start to the season because of a COVID-19 infection during spring training 2.0. The 25-year-old led the Royals with five wins in his nine starts. He posted a 5-3 record with a 2.47 ERA.
He ranked fifth in the AL in ERA, and he recorded his first career shutout in Kansas City’s 11-0 win vs. Pittsburgh on Sept. 13. He went 4-0 with a 0.27 ERA at Kauffman Stadium.
Gordon, who retired at the end of the 2020 season, closed his career with his second Platinum Glove and his franchise-record tying eighth Gold Glove. He became the third position player to win a Gold Glove in his final major-league season along with Roberto Clemente and Wes Parker, according to Sportradar.
Gordon, who spent all 14 of his MLB seasons with the Royals, wrapped up his career ranked among the franchise’s top 10 in hit-by-pitches (first, 121), walks (third, 682), home runs (fourth, 190), doubles (fifth, 357) and extra-base hits (fifth, 573). He recorded four outfield assists in 2020 to push his career total to 102, second-most in franchise history behind Amos Otis (116).
