Kansas City Royals: Salvador Perez looks ready to roll

The Kansas City Royals have played the first 20 games of their season without arguably their best player Salvador Perez, but that is about to change.

One of the worst things to happen to any team on opening day this season was the news that Salvador Perez was going on the disabled list thanks to an off the field injury. The day before he was trying to carry luggage up his stairs when he slipped and caused a grade two tear to his MCL putting him on the DL for four to six weeks.

In what may be the first thing that has gone right for the Royals this year, Salvy has healed quickly and rumor is he will be back in KC for Tuesday’s home game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He will have healed and gotten through his rehab stint just shy of four weeks after his injury.

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Not only has he healed and appears to ready to play, he appears ready to play at a high level. Through six minor league games he hat a stat line of .381/.391/.714. Those stats include two doubles, two home runs, and four RBIs.

Those are numbers that the Royals desperately need at the big league level. As anyone who has watched them this season, it’s obvious they have the worst offense in all of baseball. Adding one of the best hitting catchers in baseball will be a big boost to this lineup.

Salvy means much more to this team than just his bat. The bullpen is in desperate need of some confidence and one of the best defensive catchers in the game will give them that. Drew Butera has been a solid backup but let us all be honest, he’s not in the same league as Salvy.

I’m not expecting the greatness of the H.D.H. days to start coming out of the Royals bullpen, but I think Salvy can make them better than the absolute dumpster fire they’ve been so far. He calls a better game than they’ve had all year and pitchers can have confidence that whatever Salvy is calling is the right pitch at the right time.

While Salvy is clearly an upgrade over almost anyone on the roster and will make the team better just by being in the lineup, it’s the off the field stuff I’m looking forward too most. Mike Moustakas is unquestionably the leader of this team and is the guy to players look too for motivation. What Salvy brings to the team is the comedy relief and someone who can take the edge off a long season.

Salvy is the guy who keeps things light in the locker room and on the bench and builds the teams relationship off the field. He does the Salvy splash that fans love and the players enjoy, well except maybe for Alex Gordon but even he gets a kick out of the fact he doesn’t get splashed. He’s the grown man who acts like a kid playing a kids game with the joy and fun we all say we would play with.

Salvy being back on the team isn’t going to turn this team into playoff contenders, but he is going to make them more competitive. Off the field, he’s going to make the games more fun for fans to watch, which right now seems almost impossible. The best part is, all this will happen just in time for him to welcome his best friend back to KC for the first time when Lorenzo Cain comes to town Tuesday. Salvy making his season debut and Cain making his return to the K, it should be a night of long standing ovations for both of them.

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