No one wants to watch a legend fade, and yet that’s often what happens when it comes to larger-than-life figures in the world of entertainment.
Marlon Brando stars in The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Willie Mays stumbles in a Mets uniform.
Michael Jordan lags for the Wizards.
Johnny Unitas lumbers for the Chargers.
Gordie Howe finishes his career a Whaler.
Pelé retires with the Cosmos.
Those are just a few examples.
One happening in front of Kansas City’s very eyes, on a nightly basis, is the end of Salvador Perez.
Entering play on Friday, Salvy is hitting just .200/.239/.339. Out of 171 qualified Major League hitters, he ranks 164th in wRC+. And the underlying metrics are…not good.
What makes this even tougher is that Perez has only played for the Royals, and it seems the two cannot break apart. Salvy’s not going anywhere on his own, and the Royals aren’t pushing him out.
It brings to mind Stan Musial hitting only .255 in his last year with the Cardinals.
And Mickey Mantle cratering to a .237 in 1968, his last season, to bring his career average under .300.
And Ozzie Smith butting heads with new manager Tony La Russa, appearing in only 82 games in the 1996 season, his last.
It’s a startling image, watching a once feared batter, the leader of the team, struggle, and struggle badly. To make the situation even tougher: the Royals are trying to win. After making the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons back in 2024, the team took a step back last year but still managed to finish with a winning record. This year was supposed to be a step forward, toward getting back to the postseason, even competing for the division title.
This year has not gone according to plan, and in the middle of it all is the aging legend, the last link between the 2014-2015 teams and this new era.
How should the Royals handle Salvador Perez going forward? There are four ways.
Bench him
This seems like the least likely option. Manager Matt Quatraro gave Perez an off day earlier this year, calling it a mental breather, a comment with which Perez took umbrage.
It only lasted one game. The Royals could approach Perez before benching him, of course, as he is the elder statesman on the team and deserves to not be blindsided by such a momentous decision.
But this won’t happen, for several reasons. One is that Perez feels like he can still produce, so he wouldn’t remain shy about his feelings. He went to X with the mental breather situation, but there are more public ways to express his displeasure.
Secondly, there’s not a great replacement on the roster. I always come back to this: If not him, who? The Royals carry two other catchers in Carter Jensen and Elias Diaz. Jensen has recently struggled and Diaz is 35 and without a hit in the month of May. Neither scream upgrade.
Third, the backlash. As much as readers of Royals Review may want to see Perez ride the pine for a bit, there are even more fans who would become incensed if the organization benched him, with or without his knowledge.
Drop him in the lineup
This is the best option: move him out of the cleanup spot. Sure, he had four hits in the series against the White Sox, but three of them were singles. He homered in his first at-bat Tuesday night, which was great, but there have been more at-bats where he’s swinging at damn near everything, either missing the pitches for ugly strikeouts or grounding into sure double-plays. He has no speed. He never has, but he’s slowed down from that. It looks like he’s standing in quicksand out there.
Again, though: If not him, who?
Dropping him in the lineup would only the be first step. Quatraro would have to revamp the entire lineup because swapping Perez with someone beneath him won’t fix things. Outside of Bobby Witt Jr. and, to a lesser extent, Maikel Garcia, no one is producing. Nick Loftin is playing well, but that’s mainly against lefties.
Stay the course
The most likely scenario: Q keeps Perez in the cleanup spot on a daily basis while sometimes putting him behind home plate and sometimes slotting him in the lineup as the DH.
Opting for this seems like madness. Salvy’s clearly slowing down, needs more time off, and to be put in a less stressful role. Running him into the ground isn’t going to solve this problem.
I’m loathe to write this, but Perez’s poor reaction to getting a mental breather shows he isn’t quite the leader we fans make him out to be. He needs to accept reality, put his team first, and insist on not staying the course.
Only Salvador Perez can prevent this option from happening.
A trip to the injury list
He looks kinda banged up, right? Joel Goldberg mentioned on the Tuesday night television broadcast that Perez has been battling a host of maladies to his hips and groin. That doesn’t sound ideal for anyone let alone a starting Major League catcher.
Maybe he doesn’t need a mental breather but a physical one. Throw him on the IL and see if he heals up.
It at least buys some time.
