KC Royals catcher Sal Perez named Sporting News All-Star as accolades continue to roll in
A panel of Major League Baseball executives recognized Kansas City Royals superstar catcher Salvador Perez as the top catcher in the majors by selecting him to the Sporting News All-Star Team.
Perez enjoyed a record-setting season and the most productive power hitting season of any catcher in major-league history in his first full season after he had Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2019 season.
A finalist for the American League’s Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards, Perez has earned back-to-back AL All-Star honors from Sporting News. Voting took place as part of an annual survey of MLB executives who were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
The Sporting News All-Star team, first selected in 1925, names one All-Star for each position in the AL and NL, respectively. The positions included separate spots for designated hitter, starting pitcher and relief pitcher.
Earlier this week, Perez won the Luis Aparicio Award as the top Venezuelan player in Major League Baseball this season.
Perez led the majors in RBIs (121) and tied for the lead in home runs (48) along with Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Perez also tied the Royals single-season home run record set by Jorge Soler in 2019.
Perez’s 48 homers were the most in a season for a primary catcher (at least 75% of games played at catcher) in major-league history. He surpassed the previous record of 45 set by Hall of Famer Johnny Bench in 1970.
By leading the majors in both home runs and RBIs, Perez became just the second primary catcher to lead in both, the other having been Bench in 1970 and 1972.
Perez batted .273, and his .859 OPS was a career high for a full-length season, as was his .544 slugging percentage (10th-best in MLB).
This summer, Perez earned his seventh MLB All-Star Game selection and was voted the starter for the AL for the sixth time in his career.
He also participated in the MLB Home Run Derby during All-Star Week. Perez set a MLB Home Run Derby record for catchers when he crushed 28 home runs in the first round of the Home Run Derby at Coors Field in Denver.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 5:00 PM.
