KC Royals: Projecting The 2016 Starting Lineup

The Seventh Hitter

Salvador Perez is an anomaly. He’s just a hitter that’s hard to figure out.

For a catcher, you’d think he would have a better idea of what a strike and a ball look like, but he constantly swings at pitches out of the zone. If he wasn’t such a good ‘bad ball’ hitter, that may be a problem.

Where he tends to run into problems, is when he tries to pull the outside pitches. If I was pitching to Perez, first I’d have to be much better at pitching, but then I would throw him sliders down and away. He tends to roll his wrists over and pull a weak ground ball to short or third. (Except for when he pulls a playoff winning single down the line)

Perez would do well to get some extra time off this season if he wants to play for an extended period of time. Eventually the foul-tips and all of those innings will catch up with him.

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He also hits much better when his legs are well rested. He batted over .300 this season following a day off, whether scheduled or just for a day’s rest. While his bat and defense are hard to take out of the lineup, it’s worth the risk from time to time to gain the uptick in production that it causes.

When Perez has his legs under him, he’s a dangerous hitter with runners on base. He was one of the Royals’ best with runners in scoring position last season and even better with two outs. He batted .371 in that situation last season with 27 RBIs.

The seventh spot isn’t usually a prime RBI position, but for the ‘next man up’ Royals, it provides several opportunities.

Royals’ opening day seventh hitter: Salvador Perez

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