Salvador Perez made some Royals history last night, getting to 20 home runs for the sixth time in his professional career. It's notable because in Kansas City, only team legend George Brett had more 20+ home run seasons with the team, with eight. Locked into his contract through 2025 (and with a club option for 2026), Perez will have plenty of opportunities to match and or break Brett's record, further establishing himself as one of the team's all-time great players. While speaking with 610's Fescoe In The Morning on Wednesday, Royals manager Mike Matheny explained why Perez could, if he wanted to, be a great manager too.
"Yeah, no question," he said. "There's no doubt. I get that question a lot – why do catchers end up being managers? And it's usually because there's so much responsibility outside of the little circle that you're standing in. In so many other positions, you have the responsibility of you, instead of OK, what is this pitcher doing? What's going on with the bullpen? What's the positioning on our infield? What might we do here on a first-and-third double steal or bunt? It's looking and thinking about everyone else, and seeing the game in broader strokes. And Salvy sees the game that way ... He's got high baseball IQ. And he's got the respect factor. So all those things lead in the direction that he can be in this game as long as he wants to be."
You can listen to Matheny's entire interview in the embedded player below: