Kansas City Royals star Salvador Perez on being in the MVP discussion: Why not?
Salvador Perez has gotten the most out of his swings this season, and he certainly accomplished a lot with one sweet stroke in the sixth inning Sunday.
The Kansas City Royals’ All-Star catcher tied the game with his 38th home run of the season, a drive that hit off the third deck in Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. The smash gave him more home runs in a season than any AL player who played at least 75% of his games at catcher, one more than Carlton Fisk’s 37 in 1985.
Perez went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a home run in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Mariners.
That homer gave Perez, who has homered in five consecutive games, the second-most homers in the majors this season behind Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
“He’s just as dangerous of a hitter as you’re going to see for a period of time here,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Perez. “One of the best runs I’ve ever seen. Every pitch, he’s just seeing the ball so well. And he’s executing on different pitches all over the zone. It’s impressive.”
Perez has hit 12 homers in August. There are five everyday regulars in the Royals lineup who’ve played 100 games or more and have 12 or fewer home runs this season (Andrew Benintendi, Hunter Dozier, Nicky Lopez, Whit Merrifield and Michael A. Taylor).
Perez’s 12 RBIs in the four-game set in Seattle matched Jermaine Dye’s club record for RBIs in a four-game series set on July 2-4, 1999, in Cleveland. Perez was chosen American League player of the week on Monday.
When asked about the best way to approach pitching to Perez, Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer raised both eyebrows and replied, “I don’t know.”
“You go try to make pitches as best you can,” Singer said shaking his head. “I feel like he’s hitting everything out though. I was watching him in the training room. I feel like the pitchers are trying everything they can, but he’s hitting everything. So I don’t know.”
Matheny said over the weekend that Perez should be part of the MVP conversation for the outstanding season offensively along with the value he provides behind the plate and working with the pitching staff.
When informed that Matheny promoted him as an MVP candidate, Perez said, “It’s amazing. I think every hitter in the minor leagues wants to be an MVP. That’s obvious.
“If they’re going to talk about me, why not. It’s exciting to have some big people say your name, you see that on TV. It makes me feel happy.”
Ohtani has been viewed as the presumptive favorite for most of the season for his exploits both as the AL’s leading home run hitter as well as being among the top tier of pitchers. Ohtani and Perez were the starting battery for the AL in this year’s All-Star Game.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen after the season is over,” Perez said. “I’m going to continue try to do my best, try to win some games. I always say that’s the most important thing, win the games. We’re going to see. We’ve still got 32 games left. We’re going to see.”
Perez’s sixth-inning home run also tied several prominent club marks including:
- Mike Sweeney’s club record with homers in five consecutive games. Sweeney did it from June 25-29, 2002.
- The club record shared by Chili Davis (August 1997) and John Mayberry (July 1975) for home runs in any calendar month (12).
- Former teammate Alex Gordon’s 190 home runs for fourth-most on the franchise’s all-time leaderboard
- Former teammate Billy Butler’s 628 RBIs for seventh-most in franchise history (he passed Butler later in the game).
- Former teammate Mike Moustakas for the second-most homers in a single season in club history.
Perez, who has spent his entire professional career in the Royals organization, wasn’t aware that he’d matched any of those marks until told during his postgame press conference.
He was humble as he expressed his excitement about the run he’s been on lately.
“I’m blessed to be in this organization, to be here and do what I do right now,” Perez said. “It’s amazing.”
Up until this season, Perez had spent his entire career as a teammate of Gordon, who retired at the end of last season. The two were members of the 2014 AL championship club as well as the 2015 World Series championship club.
“That’s a good thing that happened in my career, seeing Alex Gordon and how he liked to work,” Perez said. “How concentrated he is when the season starts, when spring training starts, trying to do the same thing every day. Routine. Routine. Routine. I appreciate him for everything he did for us in here.”
Perez, who was part of Gordon’s retirement ceremony earlier this season, also issued a light-hearted message to Gordon with a huge smile.
“You’re the greatest,” Perez said. “You’re the best, man, but I’m going to catch you. OK. I just need to hit one more.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 6:01 AM.
