I won’t always preface posts, but as this blog will be a mixed bag, I wanted to offer an explanation. Sports have always been a big part of my life, and from time to time they will make their way into this space. With spring training in full gear and the regular season on the way, I’ve got baseball on the brain.
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The sight of C Salvador Perez running into the clubhouse Monday was more than enough to put a scare into his team and fans alike.
The 23 year old all-star catcher left the Royal’s Monday spring training victory against the Mariners mid-way through the third inning after being struck by a foul tip. Initial x-rays were negative, though the club cannot be blamed for running a bevy of tests to confirm the mild bruise on his left palm was just that. Manager Ned Yost called it “…really just precautionary,” Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star initially reported.
Though no team is quite as good without one of its all-star players, the Royals can ill-afford to lose Salvy’s services in particular for any extended period. His .292/.323/.433 splits and 13 homers in 2013, coupled with his stellar defense, earned him All-Star and Gold Glove honors. He was able to stay healthy through most of his 138 games, a relatively normal workload at the strenuous catcher position.
His stats alone are reason enough to fret about losing a player of Perez’s caliber, though it’s what is (or isn’t) waiting to replace him were he forced to miss significant playing time. The Royals would be left to choose from two virtual question marks before the end of spring training in Brett Hayes and Ramon Hernandez. Hayes cracked the majors for 5 games last season, and spent most of 2013 at AAA Omaha hitting .233/.279/.480. Veteran Hernandez has enjoyed a much longer stay in the majors and brings more experience to the table, but has performed far worse than his career .263/.327/.417 averages in his last two seasons with the Dodgers and Rockies, respectively.
Last season, the Royals had a more than worthy backup catcher already on their roster in George Kottaras. Kottaras left for the Cubs in free agency this offseason. Though nowhere near as defensively talented as Perez, Kottaras churned out a .349 on-base percentage, and at times was a base-on-balls machine. While the club’s reason for not re-signing Kottaras is unclear, his $1.08 million salary would have been money well spent at a position so vital, given their lack of pursuance of another option.
While it might be appropriate to suggest that the team roster Hayes to start the season, either option is less than desirable if Perez has to miss significant time. Yost admitted as much after Monday’s game. “In a perfect world, yeah, absolutely, you want a Gold Glove backup guy,” Yost said. “Sometimes, it’s not a perfect world. You’ve got to look at your roster, you’ve got to look at a bunch of different things. And then you make it work, whatever it is.”
The Royals will face this reality heading into the 2014 season. With ace P James Shields set to walk after the season, this may be their best chance going forward to take advantage of their perennially long playoff odds. No doubt the team feels they have the potential to compete, and one of the keys will be Salvador Perez. They have to hope that, if pressed into extended duty, whoever they nominate as Perez’s backup will be able to adequately hold his spot.
The threat of injury, though, will no doubt have Royals fans and the organization holding their collective breath.
The Replacement-Level Lebowski 