Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez scratched from lineup with blurry vision
The Kansas City Royals played Friday’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers without their captain in the lineup. Perez was scratched from the starting lineup due to blurry vision. He was initially scheduled to be the designated hitter against Brewers ace Corbin Burnes.
“Salvy got a little bit of blurry vision. He saw a specialist and they already treated it,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s just a matter of time until it resolves. It’s nothing long term or serious.”
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was added to the lineup. He hit second and operated as the designated hitter on Friday. The Royals also shuffled the batting order as outfielders MJ Melendez and Ed Olivares flipped spots.
Olivares hit third in the order. Melendez drew the cleanup spot. Meanwhile, outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. bat eighth as catcher Freddy Fermin rounded out the lineup.
Perez has dealt with blurry vision in his career. In 2020, he spent time on the injured list with blurred vision. The condition, central serous chorioretinopathy, was a result of fluid building up under the retina in his left eye.
Last season, Perez also spent time as the designated hitter due to blurry vision. He was moved from catching during an early April game against the Minnesota Twins.
Quatraro did say Perez could be available in a reserve role on Friday, though he did not end up playing. He also mentioned that Perez got treatment on Thursday.
“It’s just a matter of the blurriness going away,” Quatraro said.
Perez has found his rhythm in recent weeks. He owns a .289 batting average with seven home runs and a team-leading 21 RBIs.
The Royals fell to the Brewers 5-1 on Friday night. Fermin scored the lone run in the seventh inning. He hit a 423-foot home run that put the Royals on the scoreboard. The solo shot sailed into the left-field seats as it extended the Royals home run streak to 11 games.
This story was originally published May 12, 2023 at 7:17 PM.
