Royals: Positional battle, Salvador Perez needs a backup

Now that the all-star catcher will return to his spot behind the plate, the Kansas City Royals will have to find a backup to fill in as needed.

Kansas City Royals fans can rejoice in knowing that the beloved all-star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, catcher, Salvador Perez, will be back behind home plate for the 2020 season. After sitting out for all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery, Perez will hopefully get back to work, calling great games and hitting into the stands.

When thinking about a positional battle that may take place for the Royals in spring training, it’s likely that many fans wouldn’t think about the catcher’s spot first. This is understandable, as there is nobody in line to take Salvy’s spot.

One question that will have to be answered, though, is who will be the backup for Salvy when he returns to Kauffman. With Salvy out in 2019, the Royals had a great chance to look at the young catching talent they have in the organization. While veteran catcher Martin Maldonado was initially picked up as the starter, a trade and an injury to backup Cam Gallagher had the Royals going deep to see what their minor league players could do.

As the organization got to see much of what they have in line for the catching position, it is likely the backup role will be filled by one of these players. All three in-house players put up decent numbers in 2019, but two of them continue to run similar in both offensive production, and defensive ability. So the question remains, which option deserves to be the backup?