Salvador Perez delivers another 2-homer game for Kansas City Royals despite eye ailment
For four or five days, Kansas City Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez’s vision had been blurred.
He’s the only player involved in every pitch of the game from his post behind the plate. And he’s unquestionably also the biggest bat in the middle of the club’s lineup after a 48-home run, 121-RBI season in 2021.
So his ability to see clearly is vital to the Royals’ success. After all, he’s a seven-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove Award winner and four-time Silver Slugger Award winner at the catcher position.
Tuesday, he showed just how much of a difference he can make even if only in the lineup as a hitter and not behind the plate. One day after a procedure to drain fluid from his eye while the Royals had a scheduled day off, Perez slotted back into the lineup and smashed a pair of home runs in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium.
“I don’t get it,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s amazing. He just figures out a way to get things done. It’s impressive to watch. Every time you think that he might not be able to do something, he does it.
“A big day. We needed it. We talked about something being a key to get us going. He’s a nice key.”
Salvador Perez’s vision issue
Perez has dealt with the vision issue previously.
During the 2020 season, he was on the injured list with left eye central serous chorioretinopathy.
The difference this time, according to Perez, was that he didn’t wait as long to get his vision problem addressed. In 2020, he waited weeks, not days, before seeing a specialist.
Perez said he had what he described as a laser surgery on Monday, but he also said it was a “super quick” procedure that took roughly 10 seconds and allowed fluid to drain from his eye. The fluid build up was what caused the blurred vision.
“When it happened to me in 2020, it kind of surprised me,” Perez said. “I got scared a little bit. Now, I know how to handle it. ... I kind of know what I have, so I can go through that.”
He also said the procedure was the same he went through in 2020, and he was more concerned about getting the issue fixed and being able to see better than he was about the procedure itself.
Perez said the eye specialist told him he might have to take several days from behind the plate to let his vision completely clear up, but he hoped to speak with Matheny on Wednesday about the possibility of getting back to catching.
Perez’s move to designated hitter
As the designated hitter on Tuesday, Perez hit a first-pitch slider from Twins starter Chris Archer into the left field stands for a solo home run. Then in the sixth, he bashed a Tyler Duffey fastball for a game-tying solo home run.
“I like to compete,” Perez said of playing despite the eye issue. “I don’t like to come out of the lineup. If I feel I can try to help my team to win, be in the lineup, try to do the best I can do, you never know when it’s going to be your day. If you’re ready, you play and see what happens.”
He’s now recorded 14 career multi-homer games. His most recent prior to Tuesday night came one week earlier while serving as designated hitter in St. Louis against the Cardinals.
When a reporter pointed out the fact that all four of his homers came while he was the DH, Perez replied, “God is telling me something, huh? Nah, nah, nah, nah, I’m just playing with you guys. Hopefully (I’ll get) more when I’m catching too.”
Perez played in 161 games last season, including 120 starts at catcher. Along with setting a major-league single-season record for home runs by a primary catcher, he also threw out 41 % of base stealers, the highest rate among qualified catchers in the majors.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
