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In 2014, the (seemingly) unbreakable Salvador Perez established what STATS LLC documented as a major-league record for starts behind the plate with 158 \u2014 including 15 in the postseason.<\/p>\n
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A few weeks later, at the MLB Winter Meetings in San Diego, then-Royals manager Ned Yost acknowledged the unsustainability of wringing so much out of Perez, his All-Star catcher.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI can\u2019t catch Sal 150 games again,\u201d<\/a> Yost said then. \u201cI can\u2019t. I\u2019ll kill the kid.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But the next season, Perez started 153 games \u2014 16 in the postseason \u2014 on his way to becoming the World Series MVP.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What didn\u2019t kill him apparently made him stronger. Because Perez emerged as an irresistible force<\/a> in more ways than one \u2014 including to managers trying to restrain themselves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thus began a rite of spring for the Royals, who remain graced by Perez\u2019s buoyancy and Terminator-like durability. His career continues with a two-year contract extension, ambitions of another Royals resurgence and the prospect of enhancing his potential National Baseball Hall of Fame credentials.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n With 30 home runs and 100 RBIs even as he turned 35 last season, Perez retains the clout and aura that left current Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro wondering last spring if Perez is, in fact, \u201ca unicorn.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This time around, though, there\u2019s an entirely new dynamic at play in how much time Perez will spend behind the plate \u2014 one that should be win-win for the Royals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the Royals have had capable backups for Perez before, most notably Freddy Fermin, Friday in Atlanta will mark their first opening day since the advent of Perez in 2011 that they\u2019ve engaged an heir apparent.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That next-in-line is Carter Jensen, the promising Park Hill High School graduate<\/a> who made a striking impression last September after his call-up from Triple-A Omaha. In 69 big-league plate appearances, Jensen hit .300 with doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs and walked nine times.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s a small sample size, to be sure, but it also affirmed what the Royals have seen in Jensen since drafting him 78th overall in 2021.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And they have enough conviction about his development that the plan, as it stands entering the season, is for the left-handed hitting Jensen to catch approximately half the time, general manager J.J. Picollo said in a telephone interview with The Star.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perhaps out of habit over the last decade-plus of how Perez regenerates himself, Picollo joked \u201cdon\u2019t hold me to it\u201d but promptly added that the Royals feel \u201cpretty comfortable\u201d with this tentative plan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For several reasons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It enables some essential development of Jensen, whom Perez is generously mentoring \u2014 and who along with outfielder Jac Caglianone represents a key variable in the Royals\u2019 pivotal pursuit of offensive improvement this season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The prospective shared role also gives Perez a better chance to take care of his body and thus stay productive offensively.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That includes through increasingly frequent turns as KC\u2019s designated hitter and, at times, first baseman.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSalvy is still going to be in the lineup every day,\u201d Picollo said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Jensen has a chance to become an almost daily presence, too. Beyond catching often, Picollo said if he\u2019s swinging the bat well he could be at DH \u201ca fair amount.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo I think he\u2019s got an opportunity to play pretty much every day,\u201d the GM said. \u201cIf he was able to be in the starting lineup 75-80% of the time, that would be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Naturally, Perez surely still wants to catch as often as possible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The last time I spoke with him about it was at spring training 2025, a few weeks after Picollo and Quatraro had visited him in Miami to speak with him about extending his career by resting him more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t immediately clear how much that conversation really took with Perez. Because amid the annual speculation and deliberations about how much he\u2019d play, he simply stated his usual case about how much he<\/i> wanted to play: \u201cOne-hundred percent,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/a> \u201cYou know that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just the same, Perez has proven more amenable to the bigger-picture notion than might seem evident. Although he\u2019s started 158 and 155 games overall the last two seasons, for instance, in three years under Quatraro, Perez has started 90, 90 and 89 games at catcher.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the process, Perez recorded his first back-to-back 100-plus RBI seasons and burnished his potential Hall of Fame resume: With 303 career home runs and 1,016 runs driven in, he\u2019s just the eighth primary catcher to achieve both feats. The bat he used last September to break the barriers<\/a> went to the Hall of Fame, and the case of the nine-time All-Star will become increasingly intriguing going forward.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While it\u2019s subordinate to the Royals\u2019 on-field ambitions, part of Perez\u2019s case may hinge on retaining that \u201cprimarily a catcher\u201d status that he still enjoys with more than 80% of his career MLB starts coming behind the plate. Maybe that will be something for the Royals to consider at this goes along.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Still, the best-case scenario for the club is clear: Perez keeps sipping from the fountain of youth by playing fewer games behind the plate, Jensen injects more life into the offense and the Royals return to the postseason for the second time in three years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because as irresistible as it\u2019s been over the years to keep Perez as a pillar behind the plate, it\u2019s never been more potentially fruitful to further transition. Both in the near term and for the future.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n