Salvador Perez day to day with knee injury
By Hayden Kane
The Kansas City Royals are riding high. The current division leaders in the American League Central are running hotter than anybody, and with the Detroit Tigers in something of a tailspin, a playoff berth looks more realistic than ever with the dog days of the 2014 season fading away.
More from Kansas City Royals
- MLB standings ordered by hard hit rate: Struggling Cardinals still cracking bats
- MLB Rumors: Cardinals surprise trade, Braves-Ohtani package, Yankees-Royals trade
- Tigers young star takes vicious shot at Royals pitcher over sticky stuff allegations
- Immaculate Grid baseball: Answers, connections, hints for Grid 104 (July 15)
- Rays-Royals rain delay: Weather updates for Royals game today, July 14
There was a moment this past weekend that might have thrown a serious wrench in those plans, however. Catcher Salvador Perez, one of the better players on that team despite the relative lack of fanfare, was forced to exit the game early and is considered day to day with a knee injury.
Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star writes the following about what happened:
"Perez “pinched” his patella tendon as he rounded second base shortly after his two-run single in the fifth, Yost said. He caught two more innings. As he usually does, he insisted he could play Tuesday at Coors Field in Denver. Yost stressed there was no structural damage to the joint. “Just tight,” Perez said."
As McCullough notes, this comes one year after a 2013 season that saw Perez miss 67 games with a torn left meniscus. The Royals will surely proceed with caution to ensure that they do not lost their catcher for the playoff run.
According to FanGraphs, Perez has been good for 2.9 WAR thus far in 2014. He is batting .268/.305/.417 and started this year’s All-Star game in place of Matt Weiters. For a Royals team on the rise but always in need of a boost offensively, any injury that is more serious than this would be a tough blow. There will be a collective sigh of relief, then, when Perez is back on the field this week.