Salvador

Perez

The Royals managed to put up eight runs in a game where they had just one extra-base hit and drew three walks. Perez put himself in the middle of a few of their rallies, which was a welcome sight considering how much he’s struggled this season. This was his first multi-hit game in nearly three walks and just barely dragged his average back over the Mendoza line, sitting at .205 after 64 games played.

The ironman sat out both games over the weekend with a minor thumb injury and will get a blow on Thursday after catching last night. It appears he’s still being handled cautiously. Carter Jensen is playing catcher and Lane Thomas has taken over in the 5-hole for Perez in a rare start against a right-hander in Rangers starter Kumar Rocker.

Salvador Perez (thumb) and Jac Caglianone (shoulder) are also back in Kansas City’s lineup after missing time over the weekend. The Royals made the decision to pull Witt from Sunday’s series finale after his right knee soreness got worse during the contest, but he appears to have checked out fine after undergoing further evaluation. The 25-year-old franchise cornerstone has the green light to return, which is a massive relief for the Royals and fantasy managers as well.

Perez singled in the Royals’ first two runs in the fifth after Vinnie Pasquntino was intentionally walked to load the bases in front of him. Bryan Woo was down 2-0 in the count at the time, though if the Mariners had challenged ball two, it appears that it would have been overturned. It’s Perez’s first three-RBI game of the year. Still looking for some consistency at the plate, Perez has two three-hit games and four 0-fors in his last six games.

It was his second homer in four games and his third in the past nine. The veteran slugger is working with some diminished bat speed this season, in addition to his worst barrel rate since 2016. Perez is also struggling against four-seam fastballs, which isn’t a positive development for a 36-year-old. He’s posted useful fantasy numbers every season, but it’s fair to wonder if aging is finally catching up to him. He’ll try to continue his recent power stroke when the Mariners visit Kauffman Stadium beginning Friday.

Perez has been pretty quiet, but that wasn’t the case today, as he hit his seventh homer and drove in multiple runs for the fifth time this year. With his strikeout rate up some and his bat speed trending in the other direction, some decline seems to have set in here. Still, it’d be somewhat surprising if he weren’t a top-12 fantasy catcher the rest of the way.

Perez smacked a two-out single off of Anthony Kay in the third inning but never advanced beyond first base. He also led off the eighth inning with a single off of Sean Newcomb but the Royals couldn’t cash him in. The 36-year-old backstop has picked it up a bit offensively following a miserable start to the season and is now slashing .200/.239/.339 with six long balls and 18 RBI in 176 plate appearances on the season.

Perez also caught tonight for the first time since May 1. He’d been limited to DH duties by hip soreness. The homer off Erick Fedde was his first since Apr. 28.

Perez hasn’t caught since Friday, but he’s started every game since, and he’s likely to stay in the lineup this weekend. The Royals are already carrying a third catcher in Elias Diaz, and he’ll probably get one start over Carter Jensen in the series against the Tigers.

Pasquantino will get some additional time to rest and recover following an early departure from Tuesday’s game in West Sacramento with lower back tightness. Royals president JJ Picollo said earlier Wednesday that he doesn’t anticipate Pasquantino requiring a trip to the injured list. Salvador Perez takes over at the cold corner with rookie Carter Jensen handling the catching duties. Fantasy managers should consider Pasquantino day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series finale.