Salvador Perez needs more days off
Give the man a break!
It has been clear since 2011 that Salvador Perez loves to play baseball. He brings a joy to the game that has made him one my favorite players ever to play this sport. That joy has led to him playing much more at times than is typical, especially for a catcher. For instance, in 2014, he played 150 games, and 144 of those were at catcher. Last yea,r the league leader in games behind the dish was Cal Raleigh at 131, and only five catchers were back there 120 or more times. Salvador plays, it is a part of who he is, but I think it is time for it to become a part of who he was.
The numbers are extremely clear on when Salvador is, and isn’t, effective as a hitter. On games where he plays after not playing the day before, his slash line is slashing .387/.418/.587 nearing a thousand OPS. That is a far cry from his season line that has a sub-.700 OPS. You can see it easily if you chart his production relative to how many days in a row he has played.
After six days played in a row, he has had a single game with a wRC+ above 200 and is rarely cresting even 100 (league average). One, two, three, and four days played in a row is a very different story. He is frequently putting up valuable days in that territory. I think the 35-year-old version of Sal can still be productive, but he cannot be productive playing every day. He needs to play 4 to 6 days in a row and then take a rest day. Any time he is playing more days in a row than that, he is not the same player.
Luckily, the Royals have an abundance of depth at the positions that Perez plays. Freddie Fermin is not an amazing hitter, but his defensive prowess, coupled with a mediocre bat makes him much more than a typical back-up catcher. The last two years, he has put up 1.8 and 1.9 fWAR in limited time. He can be counted on to contribute enough to not kill the team until the newly promoted Carter Jensen is ready for his debut.
Salvy’s second defensive position is first base, though he has been at DH one more time than he has been here. First is more than covered for this team. It is so covered that Jac Caglianone is running around in right field, which early metrics suggest is not a complete disaster, though long-term he needs to be back at first, which we can discuss at more length another day. The designated hitter position also has options since Caglianone, Salvy, and Pasquantino need to be in the lineup most days. That has not stopped the Royals from using the DH spot on John Rave recently, but I think Caglianone and Pasquantino can cover DH/1B once a week to give The Captain a day off his feet.
I do not think this is much to ask, though I do think the conversation with Salvador Perez might be a bit difficult. He really wants to be out there every day, and I would too! Sitting on the bench cannot be as fun as competing, so I get it. This is where you need to lean on him a bit about what it means to be the leader of the team, and why he was named captain. This team is better with a fresh Salvador Perez in the lineup, but it is worse with a tired one. That means the days he is sitting and cheering on his teammates are the same as his days behind the plate. Those days, he is still doing what is necessary to improve Kansas City’s chances to win both that day and in the future. He can still be a power right-handed bat on the bench as a pinch-hitting threat too.
I love Salvador Perez. He is one of the truly great Royals throughout franchise history and the last one standing from the 2015 World Series. It is time for him to start his transition to true elder statesman. A 120-130 game season where a fresh Salvy is a threat to take the pitcher deep every time up is good for this team, but right now, he is on pace for 154 games. That means that almost a third of the time, the Salvy we are getting is not really a threat. It is time to have a more disciplined approach to how Perez is used for the good of the team.