{"id":2420201,"date":"2026-05-17T05:50:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2420201"},"modified":"2026-05-17T05:50:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:50:58","slug":"kansas-city-royals-have-a-salvador-perez-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/kansas-city-royals-have-a-salvador-perez-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas City Royals Have a Salvador Perez Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/roundtable.io\/sports\/mlb\/royals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kansas City Royals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Kansas City Royals&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Kansas City Royals<\/a> lost their sixth straight game on Saturday after falling 4-2 to the <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/teams\/st-louis\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:St. Louis Cardinals;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;St. Louis Cardinals&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>. They&#8217;re now in last place in the AL Central at 19-27, partially because they&#8217;re tied for 22nd in baseball with 187 runs scored.<\/p>\n<p>Several players in the Royals&#8217; lineup are struggling, but none more than catcher\/designated hitter <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/players\/9015\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Salvador Perez;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Salvador Perez&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Salvador Perez<\/a>. The nine-time All-Star is slashing just .195\/.232\/.328 with six homers and 18 RBIs over 44 games.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Perez is playing nowhere near as well as he usually does, as he has a career slash line of .263\/.300\/.454 since his MLB debut in 2011. The 6-foot-2, 255-pounder only has three extra-base hits in May and has only one three-hit game all season.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s difficult for a club to succeed when its locker-room leader struggles. Perez is the longest-tenured Royal and the team captain, so it&#8217;s no coincidence that the squad is in last while he&#8217;s having his worst season.<\/p>\n<p>If Perez doesn&#8217;t pick it up, <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/teams\/kansas-city\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kansas City;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Kansas City&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Kansas City<\/a> must face a sobering reality.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13). \u00a9 Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Perez and rookie <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/players\/12451\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Carter Jensen;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Carter Jensen&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Carter Jensen<\/a> are alternating between catcher and designated hitter, but that setup only works if both players pull their weight. Jensen is slashing .237\/.329\/.412 with six homers and 19 RBIs over 42 games, so he&#8217;s been more effective thus far.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>If Jensen keeps improving while Perez stagnates or regresses further, Kansas City could put Jensen behind the dish full-time and outfielder <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/players\/9118\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Starling Marte;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Starling Marte&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Starling Marte<\/a> at designated hitter. The latter player is slashing .302\/.354\/.372 with two RBIs across 18 games and has a career .285\/.342\/.439 slash line since debuting in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Benching the captain and a player who earned 2015 World Series MVP honors for the Royals would be no easy task, but the team will have no choice if Perez doesn&#8217;t improve this season. Furthermore, that would complicate the veteran&#8217;s future, as he only has one more year on his contract. Next offseason, Kansas City would have to either trade him, release him, or ask him to be a backup in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Perez has time to prevent that from happening, but the organization can&#8217;t give him an infinitely long leash.<\/p>\n<p>Up next for the Royals is a road rematch with the Cardinals on Sunday before returning home to host the <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/teams\/boston\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Boston Red Sox;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Boston Red Sox&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Boston Red Sox<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/teams\/seattle\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Seattle Mariners;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Seattle Mariners&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Seattle Mariners<\/a>, and <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/teams\/ny-yankees\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:New York Yankees;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;New York Yankees&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">New York Yankees<\/a>. After that, it&#8217;ll end May on the road against the <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/teams\/texas\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Texas Rangers;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Texas Rangers&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Texas Rangers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday&#8217;s matchup will start at 2:15 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Royals lost their sixth straight game on Saturday after falling 4-2 to the St. Louis Cardinals. They&#8217;re now in last place in the AL Central at 19-27, partially because they&#8217;re tied for 22nd in baseball with 187 runs scored. Several players in the Royals&#8217; lineup are struggling, but none more than catcher\/designated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2420202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[357713,360072,310650,43627,311236,77699,326780,357714,428844,307792,22091],"class_list":["post-2420201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-carter-jensen","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-salvador-perez","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-starling-marte","tag-texas-rangers","tag-the-royals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Kansas-City-Royals-Have-a-Salvador-Perez-Problem.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2420201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2420203,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420201\/revisions\/2420203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2420202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2420201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2420201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2420201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}