3 Royals who will improve in 2024 and 2 who will not
By Joel Wagler
2. Salvador Perez will start to show signs of decline in 2024
After a peak season in 2021, when Salvador Perez led the American League with 48 home runs and 121 RBI (yet dissed by finishing seventh in the MVP voting), he's been slowing down.
In the last two seasons, he's hit just 23 home runs each season, and his average has fallen to the .255 range, 12 points below his career average.
His splits reveal an uptick in batting average during the second half of 2023, but a drop in his power. He batted .267 in the second half, compared to .246 in the first, but his Slugging Percentage dropped from .435 to .404
Perez turns 34 in May, and despite the fact the Royals are now in a position to get him out from behind the plate more often and let him play first base or DH, don't expect a resurgence in his power numbers.
He's hit more than 20 home runs in seven straight seasons he's played, not counting the shortened 2020 campaign. It's possible he can get there again, but don't expect him to exceed his 2023 numbers at this point in his career.