Passan: Salvador Perez is back where he wants to be: Playing October baseball in Kansas City
-
Jeff Passan, ESPN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Before every game, Salvador Perez, the Kansas City Royals’ 34-year-old catcher, lathers his entire body with an icy balm to wake up his muscles. “Knee, shoulder, groin,” he said. “Everywhere.” He tapes up his body parts — different each night, depending on what’s sore — slides neoprene sleeves onto his thighs, and gets ready for another night in baseball’s most unforgiving job.
“I’m not 25 anymore,” Perez said this week.
That was a magical age. It was 2015. The Royals won their first World Series in 30 years, a series in which Perez captured MVP honors after hitting .364. He loved that postseason — the pressure, the pageantry, the stakes, all of it — and fantasized about great October performances to come.
Only a week ago did the Royals finally return to the playoffs. Eight awful seasons Perez waited, and now he’s back at Kauffman Stadium to conjure more magic, this time in a pivotal Game 3 of their American League Division Series against the New York Yankees. Of all the fantastic consequences of Kansas City’s baseball renaissance this year — the reignition from a fan base that had been dulled by losing, the emergence of Bobby Witt Jr. as a superstar, a turnaround from a 56-106 record to 86-76 — the one that satisfies veteran employees in the organization more than any is that Perez’s postseason drought ending.
It surprised none of them that Perez found himself in the middle of the Royals’ series-tying triumph Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Even at 34, approaching 1,300 career games as a catcher, he remains among the finest at the position. He is Kansas City’s captain, its cleanup hitter and, in Game 2, author of a home run that ensured Yankees starter Carlos Rodon’s tongue remained in his mouth after a first-inning celebratory wag.
Perez has made a career of damaging pitchers’ good times. He made his ninth All-Star team this season, hit 27 home runs, drove in 104 runs and managed to play 158 games, 91 of them at catcher. He spent the winter changing his catching style to frame pitches better and has found great success in reinventing himself. He is approaching 11,000 innings caught and 300 home runs hit, the type of gaudy numbers that are the domain of those inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. And two years ago, when Matt Quatraro was named manager, Perez was the first player he reached out to. He wanted to listen to what Perez thought about the Royals’ present and future.
“A huge goal of ours,” Quatraro said, “was to return him back to where we feel like he rightfully belongs in the game.”
That’s October. “This is what he lives for,” said Cole Ragans, the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the ALDS. Ragans learned this over the past year, when he grew into an ace under Perez’s tutelage. Even when Perez’ body barks at him and tells him men in their mid-30s weren’t built to catch regularly in the big leagues, he pushes through the physical challenges because he craves the mental ones.
“I love to think about the game,” Perez said. ” I want to be in charge. I tell these guys, give me all the pressure. I’ve got it. I want to think fastball, slider, curveball, how we got him out the last at-bat, what we do now, what he’s looking for. That’s why I love catching so much.”
For years, teams reached out to Royals general manager Dayton Moore inquiring about a trade. The Royals couldn’t move Perez. He is Salvy, progenitor of the Salvy Splash, owner of the No. 13, which someday will be retired. But at the end of last season, Royals GM J.J. Picollo asked Perez if he had any desire to play elsewhere. Picollo believed the Royals were close to turning a corner, and owner John Sherman pledged to spend money, but he did not want to keep Perez if Perez didn’t believe in Kansas City’s future.
“I talked to J.J. last year about that when we lost a lot of games,” Perez said. “A bunch of teams wanted me, but I don’t want to go. This is my second home.”
He means it — after 13 years in Kansas City, Perez is the guy who will see a whiffle ball game going on in a neighborhood and stop to play a game with the kids. Perez gets reciprocal love from the city that remembers his walk-off hit in the 2014 AL wild-card game like it was yesterday and will pack Kauffman Stadium in hopes that the Royals can do what they did the last time they faced the Yankees in the postseason, in 1980: Win a five-game series.
When asked Tuesday about Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm’s comments after the Royals’ 4-2 victory in Game 2 — “They got lucky” — Perez abandoned his happy-go-lucky norm, turned terse and declined to say anything. In October, there’s no time for nonsense. It’s time to go home — after 17 days on the road to finish their season and wipe out Baltimore in the wild-card round, Perez was forced to do his own laundry in the hotel for the first time in his life — and show his teammates what postseason games are like s at Kauffman Stadium.
“‘How’s it going to look?'” Perez said they’ve asked him. “‘How’s it going to be? How loud is it going to be?’ We have the best fans ever. Even in the bad moments, they were there for us.”
They’ll be there Wednesday and Thursday. Playoff games across the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium are old hat, but at the K? They’re special, and they wouldn’t feel quite right without Salvador Perez, the heart of his team. So he’ll arrive early, go through his routine, prepare his body, jog onto the field at 7:06 p.m. and squat in his second home, his city, the only place he wants to be.
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike