5:25pm: Perez’s surgery was performed today, manager Mike Matheny tells reporters (Twitter link via Alec Lewis of The Athletic). Doctors expect he’ll need eight weeks to recover. Perez will also surely require a minor league rehab assignment before returning to the Royals. A return in late August or early September seems possible, based on the timeline provided by Matheny.
12:15pm: The Royals announced today that franchise catcher Salvador Pérez will undergo surgery to repair a ligament tear in his left thumb. He’s headed to the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 21, but the club noted he’s expected back at some point this season. Outfielder Edward Olivares has been reinstated from the IL to take his spot on the active roster.
It’s the second time this season that Pérez heads to the IL because of problems with his left thumb. He lost 11 days in May with what the team called a thumb sprain but returned to play for a bit more than three weeks. The seven-time All-Star reaggravated the issue on Tuesday, and this time his recovery will require surgical repair. The team hasn’t specified a timetable beyond noting that Pérez should return in 2022, but he’ll certainly miss multiple weeks and it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s eventually transferred to the 60-day IL.
This has been a down year for Pérez even when he’s been healthy enough to take the field. He’s hitting .211/.254/.426 through 236 plate appearances, well shy of the .284/.323/.561 mark he posted between 2020-21. Pérez has popped 11 home runs and posted a top-ten slugging figure for a catcher, but his on-base percentage ranks among the bottom 20 hitters leaguewide.
Last March, Pérez signed a four-year contract extension that took effect this season. He’s making $18MM this year, followed by successive $20MM salaries in 2023-24 and a $22MM mark in 2025. The deal also contains at least a $2MM buyout on a 2026 club option. The 32-year-old remains an integral part of the franchise’s future, and there’s little reason for the club to rush him back. The Royals enter play Friday with a 25-43 record that has them at the bottom of the AL Central.
While Pérez is out, highly-regarded rookie MJ Melendez will assume the bulk of the catching time. The 23-year-old entered this season among Baseball America’s top 50 overall prospects after a breakout 2021 showing in the upper minors. Melendez led all minor leaguers with 41 longballs between Double-A and Triple-A. He reached the majors last month and is off to a nice start, hitting .234/.333/.421 with an excellent 13.1% walk rate and a manageable 22.6% strikeout percentage through his first 43 games.
Melendez has seen time in right field and at designated hitter while sharing time with Pérez, but he figures to move to his typical catching position regularly now. Longtime K.C. backup Cam Gallagher is on the active roster as the #2 option, while Sebastian Rivero is on optional assignment to Triple-A Omaha as upper level depth.
Well, more time for Melendez behind the dish. He looks to be solid offensively and defensively.
Now just get rid of Mathenaloser, 20% Moore and owner Sherman and get a owner and GM, Mgr who care.
Dopey take. What have any of the people you gave lame nicknames to done to give the impression that they don’t care?
cdszfc
From All star to All thumbs
Too bad , one of the true warriors over the last decade , all guts , a leader , talented , having said that , almost makes the Royals a lock for worst team in AL. Yea A’s there too
See you in mid-late August.
Now that Olivares is back, he should be playing everyday. There’s no reason to be giving the bulk of OF ABs to Taylor, Dozier or Whit. It’s a known commodity what they bring to the party. OF should be prioritized to Isbel, Olivares and Beni (to get his value up to move on in a month). If Beni, Taylor, O’Hearn and Santana are on the roster on August 3rd it will be because the FO failed.
You’re right about trying to improve Beni’s value, but then wouldn’t that also apply to Taylor, Dozier & Whit?
No, Taylor, Dozier and Whit’s situations present differently.
Taylor’s value is as high today as it has ever been since 2017 and ever will be. His OPS today is around .750 – about 100 points higher than 2018-2021 averages. He’s 31 – he’s not blossoming. Heavy AB’s leading into the trade deadline will expose him for what he is and reduce value. Defensive replacement yes – spelling Isbel against an occasional LHP maybe. Starting 2+ times a week, no.
Dozier is untradeable. He’s due $16m over two years, 30, and outside of an outlier in 2019, has been below average as a corner IF/OF. He’s 2023’s Carlos Santana for the Royals. Bad contract, below replacement level.
Whit has a team friendly contract, history to suggest he can be better and an opening at 2B for a majority of AB’s. He should absolutely be played everyday – just as a 2B or occasional DH. There’s no middle IF prospect kicking down the door to leave Omaha.
This guy Royals!
Fire Dayton Moore.
Comparing Dozier to the train wreck that is Santana is beyond comical.
The good news is Santana has his BA to over .200 and still has more walks than strikouts so maybe that will help increase his value. Benintendi is almost certainly on the move and i wager it’s probably off to the NL West at some point. Taylor is signed through next season meaning the Royals don’t necessarily have to trade him but with the void in CF on many teams i imagine they will get offers. Whit and Dozier are on team friendly deals and are probably not going anywhere. O’Hearn probably gets non-tendered or DFA’d at some point in the near future
Lol, what is wrong with Taylor? He’s having a solid offensive season with GG defense. Oliva res is not a better defender than Taylor and doubt he’d match Taylor’s current offense.
Well, one guy is 31 and has a detailed resume from 2017 -2021 of being below average offensively. He plays a good CF – but at age 31 on a 100 loss team – who cares, really? The other guy is 26 was playing really well before a quad and is cheaply controllable for several years. Time to find out what he can do with extended AB’s.
KC should have traded Salvi while his stock was high. Mid-30s catchers are never a wise long-term investment for rebuilding teams.
Salvy’s value is his leadership and his bat. He can be a full time DH starting next season and hand the reigns to Melendez behind the plate
I wouldn’t be thrilled to have Sal Perez as my DH due to his low walk rates and the fact he can’t be counted on to fuel his OBP with above-avg BA’s. He’d have to homer at the rate, or at least very close to the rate he did in ’20 and ’21 to be a viable DH, and I’m not sure how likely that is moving forward.
Don’t get me wrong, Perez has been a stud in KC for a long time now, but his skillset at the dish leaves little room for error.
“The Royals announced today that franchise catcher Salvador Pérez will undergo surgery to repair a ligament tear in his left thumb. He’s headed to the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 21, but the club noted he’s expected back at some point this season. Outfielder Edward Olivares has been reinstated from the IL to take his spot on the active roster.“
So the pitcher’s going to throw over second base instead of over home plate?
Common catcher injury. Ironically came right after he pimped that homerun against my Angels. Baseball Gods don’t like that
Man who cares? Some fans are so petty about this sort of thing.
He did that? Thought he was the self appointed czar of the unwritten rules of baseball. Throwing a hissy fit when TA did a Bay flip. Hypocrite
Yeah, he didn’t look right the whole time. He would even be looking at his thumb after at-bats and between them.
At least he didn’t just abandon the team and fly to Puerto Rico to rest like that scum Molina did
Let’s hope it wasn’t improperly diagnosed/treated like Jason Kendall’s thumb was.
Forgot about Olivera. Would be great see him keep playing well and replace Taylor after he’s traded.