The Royals turned some heads this week when, on Tuesday night, they moved Salvador Perez from catcher to DH at the last minute because of vision issues Perez was having. Manager Mike Matheny revealed that Perez did see a specialist about the issue, but downplayed any long-term concerns that the team had about Perez's eyesight. It's not the first time the Royals' All-Star catcher has dealt with the issue, as a similar problem put him on the IR back in August of 2020. But the issue popping up has some Royals fans wondering if, at 31 years old, Perez's days as the team's full-time catcher might be numbered. Speaking with 610's Cody and Gold this week, Royals Insider Josh Vernier gave his take.
"I think they stay in line with what they did last year with the way that they handled Salvador Perez, who still got plenty of at-bats at that DH spot," he said. "I think they follow something similar. Look, Salvy's not eager to relinquish that everyday, behind-the-dish working with the pitchers. And I don't think that Cam Gallagher, Sebastian Rivero, or MJ Melendez is a defensive improvement over Salvador Perez. Yes, you need his bat in the lineup -- it's the only consistent bat that you really have as far as extra base power. But removing him from behind the dish suddenly makes that contract not look as attractive as it did last year, even though this is the first year of the $82 million deal that you signed him to. He either hits 48 home runs and earns that, or he could take a step back offensively but catch 130-140 games and earn every dime of that contract."
You can listen to Vernier's entire interview (25:00 mark) in the player below:
