Strength in Salvy:
Catcher has way ‘of connecting to everyone’
The Royals catcher’s uncommon all-around ability is praised across the major leagues.
The smile is so constant on Salvador Perez’s face that it seems to be painted upon the face of the Kansas City Royals catcher.
“He is never in a bad mood,” Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera says. “Always happy.”
Perez has a simple reason for why he is in a perpetually good mood.
“The fans pay good money to come out to the ballpark, and they don’t want to see you like this,” Perez says, making a pronounced frown. “They come to the game to have a good time. They want to see you smiling and happy and having a good time, too.”
That attitude indeed resonates with the fans and was reflected in this year’s All-Star Game balloting as he drew the most votes of any player despite playing in one of the sports’ smallest markets. Perez tallied nearly 5 million votes, or more than 600,000 than retiring Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz got.
“That was just unbelievable,” Perez says. “It made me so happy to think the fans have that much love for me. The fans really are the most important people. If there weren’t any fans, then there wouldn’t be any reason to play the game.”
One person who wasn’t surprised by the vote total is Ned Yost, who has been the Royals manager since 26-year-old Perez made his major league debut in August 2011. A former major league catcher, Yost also has helped nurture Perez’s development into a star.
“Salvy just has a way of connecting to everyone,” Yost says. “He has the type of the personality that makes it impossible not to like him.
“But it just goes beyond Royals fans. You can see all around the league how popular he is. A lot of it is because of his personality, but he’s also a heck of a player, one of the best in the game.”
Perez has been selected to four consecutive All-Star Games, start- ing the last three, and has won Gold Gloves in each of the past three seasons. A strong case can be made that he and the San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey are the major league’s top two catchers.
“He’s everything you want in a catcher,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer says or Perez. “He handles the pitching staff well. He’s a good receiver. He shuts down the running to the point that teams rarely even try to steal bases against us anymore. And he’s so durable. He catches more games than anyone in the league and he’s never any worse for the wear.
“That’s just the defensive side. He’s a good hitter, too. He has
power, he hits for average and he is a good situational hitting. He is one of the most important hitters in our lineup.” Hosmer wasn’t finished. “And he is just a great guy and a great teammate. We have a really good clubhouse atmosphere, and Salvy is a big part of that with his big smile and upbeat attitude. Everyone loves Salvy.”
Even opposing players love Perez.
Houston Astros All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve was 7 when he met Perez while playing Little League in Venezuela and is not surprised that his childhood friend has become so successful.
“He just had a great passion for the game, even then, and you knew he was going to make it to the big leagues,” Altuve says. “He was always smiling, and he wanted very badly to be a professional baseball player.”
Perez reached what seemed to be the pinnacle of his career last season, when he was named the World Series MVP as the Royals beat the New York Mets in five games for their first title since 1985. He was fueled by making the last out of the 2014 Fall Classic, popping out with two outs and a runner on third base in a one-run loss to the San Francisco Giants in Game 7.
“That stayed with me all winter, and to come back and win it all was the greatest feeling of my life,” Perez says.
Some players tend to relax, even if perhaps subconsciously, after achieving that kind of success. Instead, Perez is having his best season yet in 2016.
Through his first 81 games, Perez was hitting .282 with 14 home runs and a .819 on-baseplus-slugging percentage (OPS). He had thrown out a major league-best 57% — 27 of 47 — of runners attempting to steal. The next-highest percentage in the American League was 37.1% by the Tampa Bay Rays’ Curt Casali.
Perez also hit a two-run homer off the Giants’ Johnny Cueto in last week’s All-Star Game to power the American League to a 4-2 victory against the National League at Petco Park at San Diego.
“I want to get back to the World Series again,” Perez says. “When you experience what it’s like to win it, you want to do it again. I know I do and so do my teammates.”
The Royals might have a difficult time becoming the first team to play in three consecutive World Series since the New York Yankees appeared in four in a row
from 1998 to 2001.
Kansas City entered the week in third place in the American League Central, eight games behind the division-leading Cleveland Indians. The Royals also were 41⁄ games out for the sec2
ond AL wild card.
However, Kansas City showed its resolve in the last two postseasons when faced with elimination. The Royals rallied from four runs down in the eighth inning to beat the Oakland Athletics in winner- take-all wild-card game in 2014 and again to defeat the Astros in Game 4 of last year’s American League Divisions Series to stave off elimination.
“We never believe that we’re beaten,” Perez says. “We still feel we can get back in the race.”
One of the reasons the Royals think they have a chance is the steadying presence of Perez in the lineup and behind the plate.
“He always stays positive, and that helps you as a pitcher,” Herrera says. “When things start to get tough, Salvy is always there to settle you down. That’s why he is a leader on this team. Everyone respects him.”
Royals management also has great respect for Perez.
The Royals signed Perez to a five-year, $52.5 million contract extension March 1 that runs through 2021. It was their way of saying thank you to Perez, who is in the final guaranteed season of a five-year, $7 million contract that is far below market value.
Under terms of the old deal, the Royals held club options for the 2017-19 season that could have been exercised for a total of just $16.5 million.
“I can’t tell you what the new contract meant to me,” Perez says. “The last contract was a good deal in the moment, but everything changed. The Royals didn’t have to change it, but they did. That is why I feel this is the best organization in baseball.
“We really are like a family here. It’s why I’m always smiling. I’m happy and proud to be a Kansas City Royal.”