Salvador Perez hoping to turn in an iron man season for the Kansas City Royals
Annually each spring, Kansas City Royals star catcher Salvador Perez proclaims that he enters the season prepared, willing and able to catch all 162 games. Plus each postseason game for as long as the club advances.
The refrain has become as much a part of spring training as the high sky in Arizona and players showing up “in the best shape” of their lives.
Sixty games into this season, Perez hasn’t caught every game. The wear and tear of catching makes it unrealistic and unreasonable to expect any player to hold up in that position on a daily basis, particularly when you factor in doubleheaders and day games after night games.
But Perez, 31, has started every game this season. Wednesday night’s 6-1 road loss to the Angels marked his 46th start at catcher, and he has also started 14 games as the designated hitter. When asked recently about that trend of playing in every game, Perez didn’t shy away from his intention to maintain that pace throughout this season.
“One hundred percent that’s one of my goals,” Perez said. “I never did it in my life, in my career before. I’m going to keep that in mind as one of my things I want to do this year.
“Just every night I talk to God to keep me healthy, give me the opportunity to be in the lineup every day. It’s one of my goals. It’s something I want to do before my career is over.”
Perez’s career high for games played in a season, 150, came in 2014. He caught 146 games that season, and he caught 139 the next.
He played an additional 31 games combined in those two postseasons as the Royals made back-to-back World Series appearances and won the 2015 title. Perez won the World Series MVP award.
The last time Perez last caught 100 games was 2017. In 2018, a knee sprain kept him off the active roster until late April. He missed the entire 2019 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
Last season, he had a stint on the injured list with an eye ailment that impaired his vision. That limited him to 37 games in the pandemic-shortened 60-game season.
He still made a large enough impact to earn his third Silver Slugger Award as well as All-MLB First Team catcher honors.
Perez believes, with the benefit of games as the designated hitter, this season he can match a feat accomplished by teammates Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler in 2019 when they played in each of 162 regular-season games.
“Why not? The way that I prepare myself in the offseason, during spring training and during the season, why not,” Perez said. “I feel like I’m ready. I don’t feel tired. My body feels great. I think I show that. I run hard to first base. I play hard every night.
“It’s something, yeah, I have that in mind. Hopefully, I can keep it that way. Hopefully, I can do it this year.”
Keeping his bat in the lineup
A six-time All-Star, Perez’s much-needed presence and production in the middle of the Royals batting order makes it an even stronger possibility that he plays in each game.
Entering Wednesday night, Perez slashed .278/.307/.509 with team highs in home runs (14) and RBIs (40) through 59 games. On Friday night in a 4-3 loss at Oakland, he recorded his third two-homer game since the start of June. He now has nine career multi-home run games. Perez went 3 for 4 and registered his fourth game with at least three hits this season.
“There’s no question that we want his bat in the lineup every day as long as he feels good,” said Royals manager Mike Matheny, a former major-league catcher. “The challenge is going to be that the position beats you up so much that there are some days that you need a full day, and you’re just at a higher risk of things happening to you because you’re so involved near contact all the time.”
No MLB player has caught more than 150 games in a season since Brad Ausmus in 2000, and the 150-game benchmark has only been eclipsed 27 times in major-league history.
Randy Hundley’s 160 games in 1968 stands as the most in league history for defensive games at catcher according to Baseball-Reference.com. Hundley’s son, Todd, caught 150 games in the majors for the New York Mets in 1996.
St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina surpassed 2,000 career games caught earlier this season, making him the sixth player to log that many games behind the plate. His single-season high for games caught is 146.
Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, inducted in 2017, set his career high with 146 games caught in 1996. He played until 2011. During his AL MVP season of 1999, Rodriguez caught 141 of the 144 games he played.
In Joe Mauer’s MVP season of 2009, he played in 138 games (109 at catcher, 28 as DH, five as a pinch hitter). Buster Posey’s 2012 MVP season included 114 as a catcher, 29 at first base, three at DH and five as a pinch hitter.
Staying fresh
More than once this season, Matheny has taken Perez out of a game that’s gotten out of reach in order to give him extra rest.
The schedule has also helped Perez. He came out of a game with groin discomfort, but he managed to avoid missing games thanks to a game as the DH and an off day on the Royals schedule.
Listed at 6-foot-3, 255 pounds, Perez’s frame also raises concerns that he may be more susceptible to breaking down under the heavy workload of a 162-game slate. He detailed his pregame routine, including alternating between hot and cold tubs, in a recent interview with The Star.
Matheny can assure other players they’re not going to get pressed into action on a day. He’ll literally tell guys, “You need to shut your mind down. You bring your shower shoes out here for all I care, but you’re not going to play.”
Because there are only two active catchers on the roster, Perez may have to jump behind the plate at any moment. Last week, Perez started a game at DH and finished at catcher after Matheny pinch-hit for backup catcher Cam Gallagher.
Playing in every game is a daunting task even if Perez isn’t asked to catch 140 games.
“That being said, I think he’s got as good a chance as anybody because he’s such an integral part of our lineup, offensively,” Matheny said of Perez reaching his goal of playing in every game. “And he’s been good, too, at understanding. I think I mentioned this earlier in the season, he’s matured, understands that he can take a blow and still give us some offensive production and still be a durable everyday catcher without catching 162.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 6:45 AM.
