KC Royals: 3 overperformers through the midpoint

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(Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports) /

The 2021 season has been rough for the KC Royals with some unfortunately underwhelming performances by a few key players. Although it’s fairly easy to point out Kansas City’s underperformers through the All-Star Game, baseball’s traditional season midpoint, there are some overperformers, too.

Here are three top Royal overperformers—players who’ve played at least a bit better than expected—so far.

Catcher Salvador Perez is giving the KC Royals a fantastic All-Star season.

Salvador Perez may be on track for his best season ever and has been a major bright spot for Kansas City this year. The 2015 World Series Most Valuable Player is slashing .275/.300/.501 with an .802 OPS and .325 BABIP so far. He has 37 extra base hits, 53 RBIs, and 21 home runs.

His defense has also been superb—Perez boasts an excellent .997 fielding percentage (slightly better than his career .995) behind the plate. He has 35 assists and has caught nine players stealing, giving him a 34.6 caught-stealing percentage, which is the best in the American League and fourth-best in the majors.

Perez’s 21 home runs helped him into the Home Run Derby for the first time, where he mashed 28 homers in the first round but lost to eventual contest winner Pete Alonso of the Mets. Those 28 homers are the most hit by a catcher in Derby history and tied the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and former Texas, Cincinnati, and Angel slugger Josh Hamilton for fifth all-time in most homers hit in a single round.

Perez also played in his seventh All-Star Game Tuesday. And if he keeps up his play through the second half of the season, he could win a sixth Gold Glove and even a fourth Silver Slugger.

(Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports) /

Andrew Benintendi has performed well since being traded to the KC Royals.

So far, it’s clear that Kansas City won the Andrew Benintendi trade. While Boston sent Franchy Cordero down to Triple-A in May, and the Mets optioned Khalil Lee, who the Royals sent to the Mets as part of the three-team Benintendi deal, for the second time a few days later, Benintendi has been racking up hits for his new squad.

Benintendi’s .266 2019 campaign, and his injury-shortened, lackluster .103 performance in 2019, meant many didn’t expect much from him this season. And he started slowly with a quiet April, slashing just .225/.311/.313. But he got out of the slump with a fantastic May, when he slashed .340/.377/.443. Overall, Benintendi’s slashing .275/.327/.434 with a .761 OPS.

His 10 home runs rank third on the team, and he has 35 RBIs, 19 walks, and seven stolen bases.

Benintendi was a key part of the Royals’ lineup when a rib fracture forced him to the Injured List in mid-June. The injury coincided with Kansas City’s downward spiral in June—the Royals went 5-13 when he was missing from the lineup. Manager Mike Matheny acknowledged Benintendi’s value and the impact of his absence, telling mlb.com Royals beat writer Anne Rogers that his being on the IL was, “Not ideal,” and the left fielder was “One of the bright spots we’ve had on the offense. He’s been taking as good of at-bats as anybody.”

And his taking care of his at-bats is one of the reasons Benintendi has been a formidable replacement for Alex Gordon in left field this season, and quieted many doubters.

Nicky Lopez has flown under the radar, but played well for the KC Royals.

Nicky Lopez’s sudden turnaround has been discussed before, but bears another look.

After hitting a combined .228 in April and May, Lopez performed magnificently, slashing .333/.413/.348 in June. And in 10 July games, he’s hit .281.

Overall, he’s slashing .265/.350/.326 with a .676 OPS. This significantly beats his 2020 average of .201 and 2019 average of .240. His BABIP this season is .310 and he’s recorded 11 extra-base hits.

Although he doesn’t hit for power (he has no home runs this season), and has only 15 RBIs, Lopez has quietly become an on-base machine. He has 61 hits and his 30 walks trail only Carlos Santana’s 59 and Jorge Soler’s 31 on the club. The walks are attributable to Lopez seeing an average of 3.985 P/PA and increasing his walk percentage from a combined 6.95 in 2019-2020 to 11.2 this season.

Lopez has also scored 35 runs and is second on the team with eight stolen bases; only Whit Merrifield (24) has stolen more.

And, of course, he’s been a more than adequate defensive replacement for Adalberto Mondesi at shortstop, notching an above league average .985 fielding percentage to go with 76 putouts. He’s committed only four errors.

Though he’s flown under the radar in terms of performance, Lopez’s contributions have not gone unnoticed by the KC Royals.

Next. 3 Underperformers at the midpoint. dark

Despite a tough year for Kansas City, Salvador Perez, Andrew Benintendi, and Nicky Lopez have performed well through the season’s midpoint.

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Catcher Salvador Perez is giving the KC Royals a fantastic All-Star season.

Andrew Benintendi has performed well since being traded to the KC Royals.

Nicky Lopez has flown under the radar, but played well for the KC Royals.

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