KC Royals: Salvador Perez And Lorenzo Cain Hope To Return Friday

KC Royals hope to get both catcher Salvador Perez and center fielder Lorenzo Cain on Friday from wrist contusions. Kansas City badly needs both players to return healthy for the final stretch of the season.

The immediate issue is catcher Salvador Perez, who got hit in the wrist during the seventh inning of the Kansas City Royals Tuesday’s victory over the Twins. He underwent a flouroscan on Wednesday, which is a medical imaging test similar to an x-ray. The test showed no wrist fracture according to Kansas City Star beat reporter Rustin Dodd:

That’s very good news. With an off day Thursday, Perez also looks to get three days of rest before the final push for the playoffs. I’m guessing Perez won’t get another day off the rest of the season unless his wrist continues to bother him.

Meanwhile, center fielder Lorenzo Cain has missed seven games also with a wrist injury suffered in the Kansas City Royals 5-4 loss in 10 innings against the Yankees on August 30. Cain also hopes to return to the lineup on Friday against the Chicago White Sox. According to Kansas City Star beat writer Rustin Dodd, Cain took an injection to treat his injury but doesn’t really expect to be at full strength:

"“It’s probably not going to feel a lot better than it did,” Cain said. “But I feel like I need to be in the lineup.”“Honestly, I don’t feel like I have any of my power,” he said. “I feel like each at-bats, I have about two good swings. But I need to be in the lineup.”"

Cain’s “feeling” is validated by his recent performance. After hitting seven doubles and eight home runs in his first 210 plate appearances, Cain only has 12 doubles and one home run in his last 211 plate appearances going back to June 1.

At this point the KC Royals are in post-season mode. But, the problem is that they might burn out getting into the playoffs. For example, the Cleveland Indians went 10-0 over their last ten games in 2013 to earn a wild card bid. They lost the coin-flip game 4-0 to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Next: KC Royals Have No More Room For Error

The reality is that the Kansas City Royals are likely to face their final 24 games with offensive mainstays Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain while both lack their full power at the plate. They will need Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer to continue their recent power surges and hope someone else can get hot.

Oh, yeah, and no more bullpen meltdowns would really help.