Royals News: Salvador Perez rejoins team and resumes catching duties
Royals news includes how Salvador Perez is back with the team after missing time due to testing positive for the coronavirus.
The Kansas City Royals have been in Summer Camp for two weeks now and it hasn’t all been sunshine and sprinkles. Four members of the team have tested positive for COVID-19 so far and Salvador Perez was the first of those four.
Perez fortunately didn’t have any symptoms and has now been cleared to return to action and catch for the team, which is great, as the catcher position was looking grim without him and backup Cam Gallagher available. Gallagher was another Royal to have tested positive.
With Perez back behind the dish, Royals fans should get to see him in action for the first time since the end of the 2018 season. He missed the entirety of the 2019 season due to injury and it’s not hard to believe that had Salvy been available last year, the Royals win several more games due to his experience behind the dish.
Here’s what’s trending in Royals news from around FanSided
- Catcher position in trouble as Salvador Perez recovers [KC Kingdom]
- Debuts to be excited about in 2020 [Cody Rickman, KC Kingdom]
- Kansas City Royals have run out of catchers [David Hill, Call to the Pen]
"At this point, the Royals 40 man roster does not have a single healthy catcher remaining. With Opening Day in less than two weeks, time is not on the Royals’ side as they attempt to find their new starting catcher."
Check out what’s trending in Royals news from around the rest of the web
- Salvador Perez activated from the injured list [Max Rieper, Royals Review]
- Salvy on return: ‘Like it was my first day’ [Jeffrey Flanagan, MLB.com]
Having Salvador Perez back would be huge no matter how you spin it, but after Gallagher also tested positive and Meibrys Viloria was placed on the injured list (non-COVID), the Royals didn’t have anyone who was truly ready to handle the starting position.
Their best option at that point was Nick Dini, who was only higher on the list than MJ Melendez and Sebastian Rivero due to having played in the majors before. Having Dini as the starter wasn’t an ideal solution.
It doesn’t matter now, as Perez is back and hopefully Gallagher will recover and be able to rejoin the team soon as well. That would give the Kansas City Royals their original duo at the catcher position, one that is pivotal, especially with so many young pitchers taking the mound this year.