Where Salvador Perez Ranks Among the Greatest Royals of All Time
What Salvador Perez is doing this season is simply unheard of in this day and age of baseball.
Not only is he STILL the Royals’ primary catcher at 34-years-old, but he’s also ranked 8th in MLB with a .329 batting average, 25th with eight home runs and third with 33 RBIs.
If he keeps this up, he’s a bonafide lock to be an All-Star for the ninth time in 14 seasons, and there's even an increasing possibility that he could be inducted into Cooperstown.
All of this begs the question: Just how great is Perez?
Considering that he’s been with Kansas City for his entire career, Perez is certainly going to go down as one of the best players in franchise history.
Where Perez Ranks in Royals History
It’s easy to disagree or nitpick top-10 lists, but you’d have to be crazy to make an all-time Royals list and not put George Brett first overall.
After that, though, there’s an argument to be made that you could put Perez as high as second, but we have him penciled in at No. 3 right now, behind George Brett and Bret Saberhagen.
Consider how unusual his feats are.
It’s nearly impossible to have a sustained career as a catcher in MLB these days while also being an impressive batter, yet Perez has shown no signs of slowing down. He is third in OPS among catchers in all of baseball while also being the oldest starting catcher.
Happy 34th Birthday, Salvador Perez:
— Jim Miloch (@podoffame) May 10, 2024
2015 WS MVP (.364 BA)
3X AL Caught Stealing % Leader
4X Silver Slugger
5X Gold Glove
8X All-Star
1,455 Hits
254 Home Runs
844 RBIs
.268 Hitter with 105 OPS+
.348 BA in WS (12 Games)
When it is all said and done, do you think Salvy will be… pic.twitter.com/yra2Cl9gPZ
He has hit 21+ HRs in each of his last seven full seasons, and his 254 career home runs rank 10th all-time in MLB history.
Though you can certainly critique his inability to walk (just 210 career base-on-balls), his batting average has been .260 or better in eight seasons and he has posted an OPS north of .700 in 13 of 14 seasons.
Some seasons have been truly legendary. In 2021, he hit .273 with 48 home runs and 121 RBIs, winning a silver slugger award, going to the All-Star game and placing 7th in MVP voting – all at the age of 31!
His career accolades – eight All-Star appearances and counting, five Gold Glove awards and four Silver Slugger awards – will probably never be repeated by a Royals catcher again.
With all of that in mind, where does Perez rank?