Kansas City Royals: How to avoid the same mistakes in 2020

Salvador Perez cannot hit well enough to be a first baseman.

I love Salvy. Everyone loves Salvy. Well, maybe not Hunter Strickland. But everyone else. He is a perennial All-Star catcher with the enthusiasm of a big kid. What he does not have is a bat that is good enough for an everyday first baseman or designated hitter.

There is a decent chance that if Salvador Perez stays healthy for the entire 2020 season he still only ends up with about 15 more walks than I do. His propensity to regularly swing at pitches that bounce is not something I expect to see Salvy change now that our beloved catcher at this stage of his career. He should, however, be counted on to hit .250 and crush 25 homers. And those are good numbers. For a catcher.

Salvador Perez has never hit for an OPS over .800 in a full season. It would seem unrealistic to expect him to suddenly begin hitting that well after coming off a serious injury in his 30s.

There is nothing wrong with giving our 6’4 catcher a day off here or thereby allowing him to DH or cover first base. Cam Gallagher has shown himself to be a reasonable backup catcher this season. But, making Salvy into a first baseman would decrease his value greatly. Reasonable opinions can differ here, but I would like to see us play someone at first base that can regularly get on base.