The Kansas City Royals have had an up and down season. The ball club is currently 19-25 and in last place in the American League Central standings. However, they have been able to find some success with the new ABS challenge system. Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic recently gave Salvador Perez a shoutout in reference to the ABS challenge system, via Foul Territory.
“He’s been great,” Bubic said.
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The pitcher also mentioned that the Royals catchers overall have found success. Perez and Carter Jensen are the team’s catchers, and it seems as if both know the right times to challenge pitches. Bubic admitted that pitchers can want pitches to be strikes that may be off the plate, so he is thankful to have catchers who can find success with the ABS challenge system.
As of May 14, Perez is tied for eighth in MLB among catches with 21 total successful challenges. He is 21-29 overall, which is good for 72.4 percent. His 72.4 percentage is among the best in baseball as well.
The fact that Perez is good at challenging pitches is not surprising. The 36-year-old has played in MLB since 2011. He certainly has a tremendous understanding of the strike zone from behind the plate. Offensively, Perez only has a .300 OBP and he does not walk too often, but he still knows the strike zone well.
Royals pitchers are lucky to have a catcher like Perez on the roster. Additionally, Jensen is lucky to be able to learn from Perez.
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The Royals have dropped four consecutive games. They were most recently swept in a three-game series by the Chicago White Sox. Kansas City is looking to find consistency. The team has underperformed this year despite their ABS challenge system success.
Kansas City will play the Cardinals in St. Louis this weekend in a three-game series, with the first game scheduled for Friday night. The Cardinals have been one of baseball’s biggest surprises this year, so the Royals will certainly have a challenge on the road.
Kansas City still features potential overall. The Royals could start a winning streak and get back on track soon. However, they need to find a way to begin getting the job done in games.
The Royals and Cardinals contest on Friday night is scheduled for 8:15 PM EST in St. Louis as Kansas City looks to get back on track.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’
