Royals manager Ned Yost suggests Salvador Perez could enter lineup this weekend

CLEVELAND — In the hours before the Royals faced the Indians here on Friday, Royals manager Ned Yost offered the strongest indication yet that catcher Salvador Perez will return to the lineup this weekend at Progressive Field.

“I probably fully expect to see it,” Yost said during a pregame interview. “So we’ll see how he continues to keep going.”

Perez is recovering from a left quadriceps contusion, sustained last Saturday in an 8-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Friday represented his sixth full day of healing since the injury. As the Royals prepared for the second game of a four-game series, Perez caught another bullpen session in the afternoon and hit early batting practice.

“He might be able to catch,” Yost said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Perez, a three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner, is batting .277 with a .313 on-base percentage and seven homers in 46 games. He was batting .308 during 24 games in May.

“We’re still gauging it,” Yost said. “He had a really good day yesterday.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Royals manager Ned Yost suggests Salvador Perez could enter lineup this weekend."