Salvador Perez walked into the visiting clubhouse at Rate Field, roughly 2 and 1/2 hours before the Royals’ game Tuesday against the White Sox.
Perez was all business as he sought out teammate, Stephen Kolek, who started against Chicago. Kolek and Perez quickly disappeared, likely to consult with pitching coach Brian Sweeney to go over the plan for each White Sox hitter.
The Royals’ starting pitcher and catcher meet with Sweeney before each game, but this was the first time for Perez since May 1 in Seattle. Perez has been dealing with hip soreness, but he has played in all but one game since then, serving as the designated hitter.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro raved about what traits Perez brings defensively.
“The leadership is huge,” Quatraro said. “I mean not that we were missing that with him. He was doing it in the dugout as a DH, but what he sees on the field, all the reps he has, the game-planning, those are things that you can’t expedite. He’s had (15) years of it, so that experience is really hard to look away from.”
Perez was 2 for 5 on Tuesday with a solo homer in the Royals’ 6-5 loss. Afterward, he shared a health assessment.
“I feel pretty good,” Perez said. “First game in I think nine days, eight days out of catching and I was the DH. I feel great. I feel great today. Thank God that I feel healthy. And let’s see what Q decides for tomorrow.”
Perez is hoping to catch again Wednesday.
“You know me,” Perez said, “I like to catch every day.”
Rookie Carter Jensen has been the main replacement behind the dish with Perez spending time at DH. Jensen, the former Park Hill High School star, has had an uneven time defensively. He’s been charged with four passed balls and Royals pitchers have thrown nine wild pitches in his 20 games.
Perez doesn’t have a passed ball this season in 17 games and pitchers have thrown five wild pitches.
Royals’ plan for Perez
Quatraro said the Royals plan to monitor how Perez feels after Tuesday’s game before making a decision on how much time he’ll get as a catcher. But Quatraro hopes to get Perez more time defensively.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, because we’ll have to read it day by day,” Quatraro said. “It would be great to have him back in a full-time capacity, you know, whatever that is, two out of three (games), or, you know, play that out over the course of a week. But I don’t know if that’s what’s going to happen or not, because we’ll literally take it day by day.”
Perez, who turned 36 on Sunday, is batting .191 with five home runs, five doubles and 17 RBIs in 39 games.
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