Salvador Perez has to be part of the Royals’ offensive solution

Salvy is almost certainly going to be a feature in the Royals lineup, whether he is hitting well or not.

The Kansas City Royals’ offense showed signs of life this week, scoring 16 runs in three games against the Texas Rangers, which led to a three-game sweep of Texas. The lineup the Royals trotted out yesterday is, for my money, the strongest lineup that the Royals can currently put out and the one I would want to see if the Royals were in the playoffs right now:

I think you can quibble with Nick Loftin being in the lineup instead of Drew Waters, but beyond that, this is the best the Royals are going to be able to offer any given day. Unsurprisingly, that lineup includes Salvador Perez.

Perez’s usage in Texas this weekend is what we’ve come to expect. He played one game at catcher, one game at first base, and the final game as the designated hitter. So far this season, Perez has made 38 appearances at catcher, 19 at first base, and 17 at DH, with some of those appearances overlapping in the same game. So far, the Royals' plan has been to play Perez frequently - he’s played in 71 out of the 75 games, and to play him in multiple defensive spots.

Unfortunately for the Royals and Perez, his overall offensive production this season hasn’t merited that level of playing time. He’s hitting .237/.278/.392 on the year, good for an 80 wRC+. His Chase% is 44.1%, which is the fourth-worst Chase% among all qualified hitters. If Perez was only playing catcher, you might be able to live with these numbers. Since he’s also been playing positions where you expect more from the hitters, it’s been a disappointing start to the season.

I think if Perez were most other players, the tone of this article would be something along the lines of “time to stop playing Salvador Perez every day.” And truthfully, I think that’s a fair argument to make! I love Salvy, but baseball is a tough business, and the Royals can’t afford to keep someone in their offensively challenged lineup just because he’s a franchise legend.

I do understand why the Royals are still having Perez suit up most days, and barring an injury to Perez, I don’t see that changing anytime soon. First of all, there is still reason to believe that Salvy isn’t completely cooked as a hitter. His xwOBA continues to remain stubbornly high, .346 compared to his actual wOBA of .290. His HardHit% is actually higher this season than it was last season. I don’t think it’s all just bad luck why Perez hasn’t hit as well this season as he did last year, but some of his dip in performance even this deep in the season seems to be unfortunate variance. You want to bet on guys who hit the baseball hard, and Perez continues to be that type of player.

Perez had a slow start to the season, but has produced better in the month of June, hitting .317/.359/.583. Coincidentally or not, Perez hitting better in June has also coincided with him batting 5th in the lineup more frequently. He’s hit 5th 12 times in June, while hitting 4th three times this month. I think hitting between the Italian Stallions is a good spot for Perez to see the best pitches from opposing pitchers, and does put a little less pressure on him to produce at the same level that he did last season.

Second, if the Royals do upgrade their team before the trade deadline, I have a hard time envisioning them going after multiple hitters who will be in the lineup every day. For one, as of right now, this doesn’t look like a team you should push all your chips in for. I want the Royals to be wise with their limited resources, and completely burning down the farm system to try and improve a .500 team isn’t the best choice.

As it stands right now, I think they should try to get one hitter, and that hitter should be a corner outfielder. Waters, Loftin, John Rave, and Mark Canha have all looked overexposed when they are playing every day, and I don’t think the Royals answer for left field is in the minors. Jac Caglianone is going to get a chance to prove that he’s the answer in right field, and for the Royals to be the best version of themselves this season, that’s really where he needs to play, which leaves plenty of 1B/DH time for Salvy.

Finally, I think the human element of this does factor in. If Perez were hitting closer to the Melendez line, he would need to be removed from the lineup. He has been better than that and showing signs of life this month, so he’s certainly going to expect to play frequently. If there is something we’ve learned about Perez over the years, it’s that he really likes to play baseball and wants to play as many games as he can. I believe that Perez’s track record as a player and his standing on the team as a leader mean he has earned more time to try and get his offensive season turned around, and it appears the Royals believe the same.

That doesn’t just mean you leave Salvy in the lineup to keep him happy above all else, but managing personalities and people is a huge part of Matt Quatraro’s job and decision-making process that we don’t have much insight too. I think it’s pretty clear that the Royals and Perez came into the season with a plan for him to play frequently, and so far they are sticking to that plan. If that were to change, it would need to be handled with careful and frequent communication to avoid a situation like whatever happened between the Boston Red Sox and Rafael Devers.

I think it’s fair to say that, barring an injury or complete collapse at the plate, we can expect to see Perez in the lineup in most games for the rest of the season. Despite his slow start to the year, I understand why that is the case and think that sticking with Perez makes the most sense for the 2025 Royals. They are going to need him to produce if they are going to get back into the postseason this year.