A Pessimist’s View Of The 2014 Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Catcher

At first glance, catcher should not be a worry whatsoever. Salvador Perez is awesome and he’s only going to get better. But his ability to stay on the field concerns me. He’s a large man, and has already had issues with his knees and with concussions. All signs point to Brett Hayes being the backup, which is scary if anything were to happen to Perez.

I wasn’t all that upset with the decision to trade George Kottaras to the Cubs for cash because the Royals have had some bad defensive catchers through the years, and he is probably the worst. He could walk, and hit an occasional home run, but he literally couldn’t do what the position he played was named for.

Last May, the only month last year in which the Royals had a losing record, was also the month that Perez missed nine games while trying to get his mom into the United States after the death of his grandmother. The Royals lost seven of those nine games, and the season was, for all intents and purposes, over.

There was some talk about having Perez play some first base to lighten his load behind the plate, but that only made sense if there was a trade for Billy Butler this winter. That didn’t materialize obviously, so Yost’s infatuation of having Perez catch as many games as possible will likely realized this season.

Whether it’s Hayes as the backup or someone else, it won’t matter. If Perez sees any much time on the disabled list whatsoever, the season will in effect, end at that moment.