Royals catcher Salvador Perez is back, and different: ‘Haven’t seen him this focused’
The following is very important because it is how doctors plan to protect one of a billion-dollar company’s most valuable commodities. In shorthand, they call it 80 percent.
Whatever workload Royals catcher Salvador Perez has had at this point in the past, they want him to do 80 percent of it now as he works his way closer to full strength. His elbow ligament tore almost exactly a year ago, and they’ve come too far to take unnecessary risks.
Prudence is important. Patience is paramount. They will be smart, and if there’s a mistake they want it to be in bringing him along too slowly, not too quickly. Makes sense.
Now, the following is also very important because it’s Perez himself sitting in front of his locker, dancing to the music coming from the speaker next to him. The 80 percent thing is mentioned to him. He interrupts before the question is asked.
“That’s what they think,” he said. “But I’m going 100 percent all the time.”
Perez laughs, and it’s hard to tell if this is laughing at an innocent joke he made or laughing because those sucker trainers actually think he’s going to hold something back.
“But I don’t say that,” he said. “I’d get in trouble.”
Another pause.
“But, (80 percent), that’s what they think,” he said. “But you know.”
Again, it’s hard to know exactly how to take this. Perez laughs, like it’s a joke, but as soon as I start laughing along he offers a more stoic stare. Whatever he means, it is a reminder that getting Perez to go easy on a baseball field is a fool’s errand.
He will be the most energetic man in most any room he’s ever in. That’s true again in this clubhouse, even if Nick Heath is closing quickly. But there’s a change in him now. He’s no longer the lovable class clown. He’s more than Salvy Splashes. There’s an edge. A maturity. He’ll be 30 in May.
“It’s a different level,” teammate Alex Gordon said. “It’s more of a leadership.”
General manager Dayton Moore: “I haven’t seen him this focused. He’s always happy to be on the field, but he’s really, really focused. He has an intensity about him that I’m not sure I’ve seen. He’s got a business approach that I haven’t seen. He’s enjoying being out there, but he’s not as carefree, and I mean that positively. I mean that in a positive way.”
Who can know where that comes from? Perez could be the Royals’ most accomplished player — a six-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, two-time Silver Slugger and a World Series champion. His single past Josh Donaldson is among the most important moments in club history. His smile is among its most enduring images.
At one point in 2018, then-Royals manager Ned Yost openly worried about how the team’s losing threatened his star catcher’s signature vibe. He hasn’t been the same since, but, like Moore said, that’s a good thing.
The ligament tear was the low point of his professional life, the biggest baseball setback in a career that’s been defined by achievement. But it wasn’t all bad.
He spent more time with his family, for one thing. More time with his wife and kids. Heck, they even took a vacation, splat in the middle of baseball season. He’s never done that before. Barring another major injury, he won’t do it again until he’s retired. They went to Hawaii. And Perez did nothing physical. No baseball.
“Drank a lot and was on the beach all day,” he said. “We did nothing (baseball). Just fun.”
Maybe the year off did Perez good. That’s the hope around here, anyway. And the people who most hope that point to a few common facts.
First, his body. Can an injury actually be good for a body? The Royals think so. Assuming his arm comes all the way back — and there’s no reason to expect it won’t — Perez had a year to get in better tune with how he recovers.
There is a thought around the game that Perez’s 6-foot-4 and 240-pound frame is something of a time bomb for a catcher, that a body that big has a finite number of squats in it. If that’s true, well, Perez just saved himself a lot of squats in a season that wasn’t going anywhere anyway.
This part isn’t talked about as much, but it makes sense. For as long as he can remember, Perez’s life has been all about baseball. His life is measured in the rhythm of the game — spring training, regular season, All-Star break, playoffs, winter ball, rinse, repeat.
Baseball wasn’t as intimate a part of his life last year. He was around the team for much of his rehab, sure, but it wasn’t the same. Couldn’t be.
“It’s impossible to be the same,” teammate Whit Merrifield said. “He’s going to have a different mood.”
That experience can change a man. It makes you see things from a different perspective. Maybe that’s why Perez, in a conversation for this column, brought up his contract unprompted.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in two years,” he said. “I’ll be in free agency, so I want to make it to the playoffs with these guys before I leave. I want to be here, but you never know what’s going to happen, you know?
“I still have fun, but when I’m playing it’s all focus and concentration.”
The contract is interesting. Perez signed his first extension with just 39 games played, a contract he so thoroughly outplayed that the Royals took the perhaps unprecedented step of essentially tearing it up and signing a new extension four spring trainings ago.
That deal will have paid Perez $52.5 million by the time it expires after the 2021 season. The Royals can approach Perez about a third extension, of course, but that would come with additional complications for each side. Perez has always been outspoken about his desire for long-term security. That desire drove both of his extensions. But he has that security now. His priorities are different.
“I don’t know man, seriously,” he said. “I have to wait two more years no matter what. Whatever happens is going to happen.”
Here’s what’s going to happen this season: Perez will work his way back, likely playing more first base and designated hitter than ever before, taking a new seriousness in leading a group of teammates he always refers to as “my friends,” hoping to help bring one more postseason to Kansas City before walking into an uncertain future.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.