KC Royals: Salvador Perez Ranked 7th Best Catcher

With an exciting 2014 season under their belts, the KC Royals had several players make it onto “Top 10 Right Now” rankings, according to MLB Network’s Shredder and Brewer Nation. Salvador Perez made it onto the top 10 catchers, coming in at seventh.
The other nine ranked catchers were:
- Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
- Jonathan Lucroy – Milwaukee Brewers
- Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals
- Yan Gomes – Cleveland Indians
- Russell Martin– Toronto Blue Jays
- Devin Mesoraco – Cincinnati Reds
- Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals
- Brian McCann – New York Yankees
- Derek Norris – San Diego Padres
- Wilson Ramos – Washington Nationals
Salvador Perez had a terrific first half of 2014, but was definitely over- used. Salvy played more games than any catcher in baseball in 2014, catching 158 games if you include the playoffs. In fact, no catcher in baseball has caught 140 games since Jason Kendall in 2008.*
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[*Note: Jason Kendall’s manager in Milwaukee that season was, you guessed it, one Ned Yost. Imagine that.]
The stress showed during the back half of the season which you can see in Perez’s hitting splits. Salvy hit an outstanding .283/.329/.437 slash line with 11 home runs for an OPS of .765 before the All-Star break. In the second half, Perez’s slash line collapsed to a terrible .229/.236/.360 with only 6 home runs for an abysmal .595 OPS (which was 29% worse than league average).
Not only did Perez lose his power, he also lost his plate discipline. Perez drew 19 walks in the first half of the season, and only 4 in the second half. Clearly, the fatigue was as much mental as physical.
Perez rarely got any rest during the season mainly because, originally, his backup was Brett Hayes—who was not reliable. Hayes was later replaced with Erik Kratz, who was an upgrade, but not a huge one.
During the season, Perez had 150 hits, 57 runs scored, 70 RBI, 28 doubles, two triples, and 17 home runs. He finished the year with a .260 batting average. Perez also stole one base.
The most memorable Salvador Perez moment of the season came during the Wild Card game against the A’s, when he hit the game winning single along the left field line in the bottom of the 12th inning.
That one hit changed everything for Kansas City Royals fans and it’ll be a hit that fans remember for years to come. KC Kingdom’s own John Viril rated that hit as the second greatest moment in Royals history.
Perez had actually gone 0 for 5 until that franchise-changing single.
Perez was drafted by the KC Royals in 2006 when he was only 16 years old. He was called up to the majors for the first time in August 2011 and hit his first home run against Max Scherzer a few weeks later. After that season, Perez signed a five-year deal that technically ties him to the Royals until 2019 (see Salaries at the bottom of his Baseball-Reference page).
Since signing that deal in 2012, Salvador Perez has been a fan favorite in Kansas City and has made it to two All-Star games and won two Gold Glove Awards (both in 2013 and 2014). Perez actually started the 2014 All-Star game, too.
Hopefully Royals manager Ned Yost can figure out a way to give Perez some rest during the 2015 season because he’s a vital part of the KC Royals, especially on defense. At least Yost seems aware of the problem. He told CBS Sports writer Matt Snyder earlier this winter:
"“I can’t catch Sal 150 games again,” Yost said. “I’ll kill the kid.”"
Perez has been a huge part of the team since joining in 2006 and he’s on the up and up for sure.
If, of course, Ned Yost can resist the temptation to over-use him.
Next: Top Ten Catchers in Royals History
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