BIOGRAPHY
Salvador Perez was born May 10, 1990, in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela. He is a catcher in the MLB.
On July 16, 2013, Pérez was the catcher for Mariano Rivera in Rivera's final All-Star Game before retirement. After the season, Pérez was awarded the American League Gold Glove Award for his defense at catcher. He finished the year playing 138 games with a .292 batting average, 13 home runs, and 79 RBI.
In Game 1 of the 2014 World Series against the San Francisco Giants, Pérez hit a home run off eventual series MVP Madison Bumgarner, representing the only run given up by Bumgarner in five World Series appearances.
He is a six-time MLB All-Star, five-time Gold Glove Award winner, and received the World Series Most Valuable Player Award when the Royals won the 2015 World Series over the New York Mets.
On March 21, 2021, Pérez agreed to a franchise-record four-year, $82 million contract extension with the Royals that will keep him in Kansas City through the 2025 season. Pérez will earn $18 million in 2022, $20 million in 2023 and 2024, and $22 million in the 2025 season. The contract includes a $13.5 million fifth-year club option for the 2026 season or a $2 million buyout. On April 21, 2021, Pérez hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-8. On July 11, Pérez participated in the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby. On August 4, he hit his 27th home run of the season, tying his career high. On August 10, the 10-year anniversary of his Major League debut, he hit two home runs in a game against the New York Yankees to give him a new career high of 29 home runs in a season. On August 26 and 27, he hit grand slams on two consecutive nights in games against the Seattle Mariners. On August 29, he hit his 38th home run of the season, breaking Carlton Fisk’s 1985 record for the most total home runs hit in a season by an American League player who was a primary catcher (played at least 75 percent of their games that season at catcher). He also homered in his fifth straight game, matching Mike Sweeney’s franchise record set during the 2002 season. On September 20, he hit his 46th home run of the season against the Cleveland Indians, breaking Johnny Bench's 1970 record for the most total home runs hit in a season by a primary catcher, and moving him past Sweeney for second place on the all-time list for home runs as a Royal, with 198. On September 29, he tied Jorge Soler for the Royals team record for most home runs in a season, with 48.
Pérez finished the season batting .273/.316/.544 with 48 home runs and a league-leading 121 RBIs, winning his fifth Silver Slugger award. His 48 home runs tied with Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays for the most in MLB, giving Pérez two-thirds of the batting Triple Crown. He swung at a higher percentage of pitches outside the strike zone than any other major leaguer, at 48.3%, and a higher percentage of all pitches, at 58.9%.
On May 17, 2022, Pérez sprained his left thumb and was ruled out for ten days. On June 24, 2022, Pérez had surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb after aggravating the previous injury in a game versus the Los Angeles Angels on June 21. He was initially ruled out for at least eight weeks, but Royals team staff hoped he could return during the 2022 season. On July 29, 2022, Pérez returned to the Royals' lineup versus the New York Yankees.
