Kansas City Royals: Salvador Perez best Royals catcher of 2010s

With the 2010s winding down, let’s take the time to appreciate the best members of the Kansas City Royals from the decade. We’ll start with catcher, where Salvador Perez is the no brainer.

Salvador Perez was an under the radar prospect for the Kansas City Royals, who has turned himself into one of the better success stories in his career.

Perez was left off most prospect lists in the industry with mlb.com sneaking him at #10 on their list in 2011 when Perez made his MLB debut. Perez’s enthusiasm and talent made him a clubhouse leader for Royals shortly after his debut in 2011.

Perez put up one of the better statistical lines both offensively and defensively for catchers in the decade.

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942 games
.266/.297/.442
141 HRs
187 extra base hits
35% caught stealing (341 SB/186 CS)
.995 fielding percentage

During the decade, Perez was a 6x All-Star (2013 – 2018), 5x Gold Glover (2013 – 2016, 2018), 2x Silver Slugger (2016 and 2018), and World Series MVP (2015). He wasn’t just the best catcher for the Royals, but arguably the best catcher in the American League during the decade as well.

Perez led the league in catcher assists for three years (2013, 2015, and 2016), caught stealing twice (2013 and 2016), and caught stealing percentage twice (2012 and 2016). Perez’s best year likely came in 2018 when he had a perfect fielding percentage, threw out a stunning 48% of would-be base stealers, and tied his career high in home runs with 27.

The most memorable moment for Salvador Perez this past decade is no doubt the walk-off hit to win the most exciting Wild Card playoff game I have ever witnessed.

With two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning of the 2014 Wild Card game against the Oakland A’s, Salvador Perez stepped up to the plate and ripped a base hit just under Josh Donaldson’s glove to score Christian Colon from second base.

The crowd went absolutely insane, walking out of the stadium I saw people of all walks of life (complete strangers to each other) high-fiving and hugging each other. I have never seen crowd react like that on their way to their cars in the parking lot.

Salvy gave all of Kansas City that moment and he’s a very big reason 800,000 people showed up for the victory parade the following year. Perez remains the clubhouse leader and one of the most popular players on the roster entering into the new decade. A return to health will be important for the Royals rebuilding process.

Salvador Perez has been a fan favorite for so long now, and the fact that he played for the Royals nearly every year over the past decade is another reason why he’s a no brainer as the Kansas City Royals’ catcher of the decade.

Be sure to follow along, as we’ll discuss the first baseman of the decade in my next article.

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