‘It’s amazing to me’: Salvador Perez finishes year on top of MLB home run, RBI lists
Kansas City Royals star catcher Salvador Perez didn’t hit a home run in the final four games of the season playing on an ankle he sprained Wednesday night, but he still completed one of the most prolific power-hitting seasons in franchise history as well as in the majors this season.
With his 0 for 2 performance that included a walk and a hit by pitch in Sunday’s season-ending loss to the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium, Perez finished the season leading the majors with 121 runs batted in. He also tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the MLB lead with 48 home runs.
“Out of 750 players in the big leagues, how many are hitters? Three hundred or something like that, 400,” Perez said. “For you to be number one, tied with somebody, that means a lot. It’s amazing to me. Forty-eight homers, 121 RBIs, played 161 games. I think I did pretty good this year. And catching (124), that’s a lot. You guys know me, I like to play. I like to be there every day.”
Sunday’s game ended with Perez in the on deck circle, one batter away from getting another chance for the solo record. Though Perez laughed off the idea that one more at-bat could’ve made the difference in his home run total.
“It’s not even the last at-bat,” the upbeat Perez said with a smile. “People say, ‘You should’ve gotten one more. You should hit second today, first, get as many as you can.’ But I got 15 at-bats the last three games. I got pitches to hit. I got like four-to-six pitches right in the middle. Things happen for a reason.”
Perez became the first Royals player to hold at least a share of the major-league lead in home runs, and he’s just the second to lead the majors in RBIs. He joined former Royal Hal McRae, who led the majors with 133 in 1982.
Perez joined a group of six players in the last 30 years who’ve led the majors in homers and RBIs in the same season: Giancarlo Stanton (2017), Chris Davis (2013), Miguel Cabrera (2012), Ryan Howard (2002, 2008) and Álex Rodríguez (2002, 2007).
“I’m happy with the way I finished,” Perez said. “The way that I ended today was good. It’s a lot of hard work, handling injuries with my hip, my knee, my lower body. Seeing today that I played 161 games, that’s enough. That’s good. I thank God for that. If I would have hit 49, maybe it’s even better but I’m still blessed for this season. I’m so happy to end the season that way.”
Perez’s 48 home runs left him tied with his friend and former teammate Jorge Soler for the Royals single-season record. Soler hit 48 homers in 2019.
Perez moved into a tie with Soler on Wednesday night. Soler broke the previous record set by Mike Moustakas, who set the record in 2017, with 38. Prior to Moustakas, Steve Balboni held the record for more than three decades with the 36 homers he hit in 1985.
“We’ve all run out of ways to describe, properly, what we’ve seen this year,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Perez. “You’re thinking about this a perennial All-Star Gold Glover with a high of (27 home runs) in the past, to get to where he is right now is amazing. It really is, and how durable he is.”
Perez has also set the single-season home run record for anyone who played at least 75% of his games as a catcher, passing Johnny Bench (45 homers in 1970).
Perez now has 201 career home runs, the second-highest total in Royals history behind Hall of Famer George Brett’s franchise record of 317 career home runs.
