Royals’ Salvador Perez calls disagreement with Matt Quatraro a misunderstanding
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Salvador Perez disputed Quatraro on X, Instagram, then walked back those comments Sunday.
- Quatraro said Perez’s benching was to reduce preparation load, not suggest struggle.
- The Royals recalled Elias Diaz, Mason Black and optioned Mitch Spence and Tyler Tolbert.
This Kansas City Royals season has seen some frustration on the field. And it’s appeared to boil over into the clubhouse.
On Saturday, Royals manager Matt Quatraro sat team captain Salvador Perez against the New York Yankees in what he deemed a “mental breather.”
Perez didn’t like the comment. He took to social media — both Instagram and X — to refute Quatraro’s pregame statement.
“I don’t need a mental breather,” Perez wrote on X. On Instagram, he shared an image of a related MLB.com story with the caption: “Fake”
Perez walked back those comments before Sunday’s series finale in New York.
“Little confused,” Perez said of Quatraro’s pregame comment. “It’s a little confused, you know, not the right communication. ... I’m good. My family is good. Everybody is good. I got reached out by a lot of people yesterday after the game. They sent me what Q said. I don’t have any problem with Q. We talked today.
“I know people are surprised I didn’t play yesterday, but everybody has an off day in the big leagues. You know, it’s kind of hard to play 162 games, especially behind the home plate.”
Perez wanted to put the situation behind him. He alluded to people taking Quatraro’s comments out of context on social media.
“No frustration,” Perez said. “Zero frustration for us. The people, they don’t know what’s going on here. They can think and they can say whatever they want to say, you know. Zero frustration. I don’t have time for that.”
Quatraro explained his perspective — including on a conversation with Perez that occurred Sunday morning.
“We’re in a good spot,” Quatraro said. “I think what stands out to me is the ‘mental breather’ was, from my perspective, telling him the night before he wasn’t playing so he can take some off his plate of preparing for our starting pitcher in the game plan, the opposing starting pitcher and just being a player every day.
“There’s a tremendous amount that goes into that for a guy like him. And so, I think that’s where that became a little bit misconstrued.”
Quatraro said his wording was the main sticking point. And he believes that’s why the situation grew bigger than expected.
“I think some of it comes from: It’s a story if Salvy doesn’t play, right,” Quatraro said. “And there is usually a follow-up question to ‘how’d that go’ or ‘how’s he feeling’ or whatever. And it was just me trying to provide a little more color to the answer that didn’t go the way it was intended. And that was really all there was to it.”
Royals recall catcher amid Perez situation
Amid the drama with Perez, the Royals recalled veteran catcher Elias Diaz from Triple-A Omaha. He arrived alongside right-hander Mason Black. In a corresponding move, the club optioned right-hander Mitch Spence and speedster Tyler Tolbert to the minors.
Additionally, James McArthur was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
The reason? Perez is dealing with a sore hip at the moment.
“He has some hip soreness,” Quatraro said. “And you know, he can catch, but we know we need him in the lineup, especially with his bat. So we need to do everything we can to make sure he feels as good as possible when he goes in there.
“So bringing up Diaz gives us that little extra amount of security. (He’s) a veteran that can help behind the plate. Carter is still going to catch, but it gives us some more flexibility in game, too, to not have to put the catcher that was DHing into the game.”
Diaz was slated to catch Royals starter Cole Ragans against the Yankees, marking the first time he has caught Ragans in his career.
“I do my preparation and my report,” Diaz said of the challenge. “And I hear what he wants to do, you know, what he is thinking. And during the game ... we’ve got to be on the same page and go from there.”
Diaz believes his familiarity with the Yankees will help. He was slated to bat ninth Sunday.
As for Perez, he was listed in the starting lineup — at designated hitter.
This season, Perez is hitting .160 with three homers and six RBIs. He has struggled with a .517 OPS (on-base plus slugging) in 81 plate appearances.
