Salvador

Perez

Perez hit the ball hard all four times up today, with his lone out traveling 391 feet to center. Obviously, most of the Royals had a fun day in the 15-1 victory, but Perez really needed it; at .202, his average was in danger of falling back under .200. The homer was his first since June 18 and 11th overall.

The 36-year-old slugger missed each of the team’s previous three games due to soreness in his right elbow. He’s back in there as the designated hitter on Sunday though, batting sixth against Phillies’ right-hander Aaron Nola. Perez owns a disappointing .201/.241/.327 slash line on the season with 10 long balls and 30 RBI in his 340 plate appearances.

Perez will miss another game due to soreness in his right elbow, or at least won’t draw the start. He’ll recover from the bench with Starling Marte the designated hitter and Carter Jensen behind the plate against Jesús Luzardo and the Philadelphia staff.

It doesn’t sound like anything serious, but the Royals did add Luke Maile to the roster on Thursday as an insurance policy. Perez is having a disappointing season at the dish, slashing just .201/.241/.327 with 10 homers and 30 RBI in 340 plate appearances. Carter Jensen is behind the dish and batting leadoff for the Royals while Starling Marte functions as the team’s designated hitter against Rays’ left-hander Ian Seymour on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Perez ends the four-game series having gone 1-for-15, though at least that one hit was a two-run double. He’s hitting .188/.205/.263 in June, dragging him down to .201/.244/.332 for the year. The Royals are still treating him as an everyday player, which probably won’t change anytime soon. His EV numbers aren’t too bad, and a modest rebound remains possible, but decline has pretty clearly set in, and the Royals have to start preparing him for a reduced role next year.

Perez victimized Max Rajcic for a 385-foot (98.8-mph EV) solo shot in the sixth inning that extended the Royals’ advantage to 12-4. He also started a six-run uprising in the second inning with a leadoff double and scored on an RBI double by Carter Jensen. The 36-year-old backstop is now hitting .207/.250/.342 to go along with 10 homers and 27 RBI.

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.