In light of recent development read also ……………..
Salvador Perez is giving the Royals unheard-of levels of service. The backstory of it
By the time Salvador Perez finished the line of high fives in the Royals dugout, the largest audience to have attended Kauffman Stadium since Opening Day was chanting his moniker, at least locally.
He gracefully ascended the dugout stairs, faced the 25,000 spectators, and raised his helmet into the air twice.
Three days after the franchise’s iconic opening month, there it was: a trademark moment.
In the seventh inning of the Royals’ 7-1 victory over the reigning world champions on Friday night, Perez hit a three-run home run to conclude the game.
The man in the lineup behind him, Michael Massey, remarked, “We go when he goes.”
They have not stopped going.
Participant.
and group.
The Royals trail in the division by half a game at 20-13, but when Perez launched a baseball into orbit towards the visiting bullpen on Friday, the cautious buzz in Kansas City is beginning to intensify into a roaring one.
He is now the axis of what is, not the lingering reminder of what formerly was.
He figured his last curtain call had to have been in 2021, when he hit 48 home runs in a season, breaking a team record. But on Friday, he failed to notice a noticeable difference.
This one was significant – not just for individual accomplishments.
The guy who never left and the people who have only recently joined him are the main reasons why the Royals are enjoyable once more.
All he was ever after.
He sent a brief text message five months ago, the recipient recalling just six words, but it was enough to make Royals general manager J.J. Picollo wince.
I must speak with you.
The guy who never left and the people who have only recently joined him are the main reasons why the Royals are enjoyable once more.
All he was ever after.
He sent a brief text message five months ago, the recipient recalling just six words, but it was enough to make Royals general manager J.J. Picollo wince.
I must speak with you.
This is the setting for an eight-time All-Star catcher who turns 34 in a week having the best March and April combo of his career.
However, it was really an extension of an earlier conversation.
During the trade deadline last summer, the Royals fielded calls regarding Perez, and one of those conversations progressed to the point where they informed him of it. But Perez asked to meet with Picollo before it got that far. A demand to remain (with the 10-and-5 rights providing him trade veto authority) or a demand to leave may have resulted from that.
Or, it seems, a third possibility: There was no demand at all.
It was a query.
What is the strategy? What is our distance from each other?
“He has consistently expressed his desire to win, and he would rather do it in this location,” Picollo added. “I told him the truth. I told him that while I would love to say it will be next year, a lot of things need to happen in order to develop our own players and be able to access and acquire other players.
Each’s early returns are encouraging. With the proviso that he is one month into a two-year contract with a player option for a third, starting pitcher Seth Lugo appears to be a great value. Bobby Witt Jr., the shortstop, appears to be as valuable as any player in the game.
However, the guy who was a part of Kansas City’s last winning club is mixed in with the best pre-May victory total in Royals history.
Perez.
Consider this: In April of his 13-year career, Perez has more hits (38), walks (10), home runs (7), RBIs (26), runs (14) and walks (10) than any other month. It was his best April ever in terms of average, slugging percentage, and walk rate.
Not only is this unheard of by his standards.
However, by any measure.
Seasons like these don’t arrive at 34. Not in his role.
Just two catchers have averaged more than.804 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) in their age-34 or older seasons in the previous 20 years. A.J. Pierzynski did it once, while Jorge Posada did it twice.
And the only player to ever post one better than.874 is Posada.
Perez had an OPS of 1.018 at the end of Friday night.
Neither that season total nor his.351 hitting average, which places him atop the American League, will be his last. In addition, he is now one behind in the AL home run race and leads all MLB drivers in runs scored.
As for how long any of it lasts, I have no idea. The starting rotation of the Kansas City Royals is among the best in baseball. There appears to be a peculiarity in the lineup that groups all of the baserunners in the same inning. Although it functions, it’s probably not a sign of long-term fixes. At some time, the order’s bottom will have to produce.
I am aware, however, that the definition and logic of the word “need” have changed in the last six weeks.
Although Perez has been discussing the playoffs a lot lately, he has been discussing them constantly. The only other guy in the clubhouse who is familiar with this emotion is him.
It is even more amazing that he persevered during the past nine years—not just because of his contractual duties, but also because he couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to bring that back.
The 162-game season is 33 games in. However, come May 3, the Royals are still in the running. Rather, on May 3, they have won as many games as they did on June 20 of the previous year. In baseball, they have the best run differential.
It contains them.
It’s possible that they are real.
How recently was that possible for us to say?
And the man at the center of that statement the previous time is still at the center of it this time.