Salvador

Perez

Perez gets his 10th 20-homer in spite of his struggles. Still to be determined is whether he’ll reach 50 runs scored for the 10th time; the homer today put him at 49 in 616 plate appearances. Because of a bad elbow, Perez last caught on Aug. 12, leaving him to finish out the season as a well below average DH and first baseman. That hasn’t really mattered on a Royals team destined for failure this season, but it might be a problem next year as he enters his age-37 season.

There haven’t been any rumblings of any physical issues, but this is the second time that Pasquantino has found himself on the bench in the last four games, so it’s possible that he’s battling through a minor injury. Salvador Perez will cover first base in his absence and will bat sixth against Astros’ righty Miguel Ullola.

It’s a bit surprising to see Caglianone taking a seat against righty Cristian Javier, but he’s been playing through a flexor strain in his elbow, which has basically limited him to DH. It’ll be Salvador Perez drawing back into the lineup in that spot with Carter Jensen, who is one homer away from breaking Kansas City’s single-season rookie home run record, handling the catching duties.

Perez is in the middle of the worst season of his career at the plate, though he’s picked things up lately. The 36-year-old has a four-game hitting streak and back-to-back games with two hits. He’s hitting .226 with a .647 OPS and 66 RBI.

The stolen base was the seventh of Perez’s career, and his first since July of 2021. He’s having his worst season as a hitter at age 36, but consistent injuries to the Royals’ lineup have kept him hitting in the heart of the order. Despite that, he’s at 58 RBI with five weeks left in the season. Perez had driven in 100+ in each of the two seasons prior to 2026.

Perez’ home run was his 17th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Drew Anderson in the fourth inning. Perez’ home run was his first since August 1 against the Rockies, a span of 16 games. He’s hitting .220 with a .638 OPS and 57 RBI.

The 36-year-old singled in the third inning and scored on a two-run single off the bat of Isaac Collins. Perez then smacked a two-out RBI single in the fourth that extended the Royals’ lead to 5-0. He’s mired in a down season offensively, slashing a meager .219/.265/.368 with 16 homers and 56 RBI in 497 plate appearances.

Perez left Wednesday’s game and didn’t play Friday because of right elbow soreness.

The 36-year-old was pulled from Wednesday’s game due to “right elbow aggravation” and it’s still not feeling much improvement after Thursday’s off-day. As of now there are no plans of placing him on the injured list, but if this lingers through the weekend the Royals may be forced to reconsider.

Perez missed three games at the beginning of July with soreness in his throwing elbow. It’s probably a similar issue this time. Perez had an RBI single in one of his two at-bats before exiting.