Despite slow start, KC Royals star Salvador Perez can still reach major milestones

Back in late December, as the holiday season cooled baseball's Hot Stove, we examined Salvador Perez and the several key career milestones he could reach with a decent 2025 performance. Clearly within his grasp were 300 home runs, 1,000 RBI, 300 doubles, and 250 runners caught stealing. Now, 75 games into the present campaign seems like a perfect moment to check in on the nine-time All-Star's progress. And that's especially true after the two homers he pounded against Texas Tuesday broke George Brett's franchise record for multiple home run games.

Through Thursday's series finale against Texas, in which Perez went 0-4, he's already surpassed the 15 doubles he needed to reach 300 for his 14-season big league career. His 15th two-bagger came May 30 against Detroit, and the four he's hit since have him in sixth place on the Royals' all-time career top 10 offense list. The 53 more he needs to tie new team Hall of Famer Alex Gordon for fifth place will likely have to wait for next season.

That leaves three milestones we wrote about to go. How close is Perez to reaching them, and some other interesting career marks?

Salvador Perez can still reach important career marks for the KC Royals

Perez's pursuit of individual career milestones is complicated by his unfortunate slow start to the 2025 season. The ugly .202 he hit in May had much to do with the disappointing .220/.260/.346 line and four homers with which he entered June. Those numbers understandably triggered concern and sparked speculation among media and fans alike that Perez was, at 35, slowing down.

But Perez, whose fourth Silver Slugger award moved him past Brett for the all-time club lead in 2021 (he added a fifth last season), is looking better and better at the plate. Through Thursday's action, he's hitting .297 with a .338 OBP in June, and the four homers he's clubbed this month are twice as many as he managed in the campaign's first two months.

Whether that surge provides the foundation for Perez to achieve other milestones remains to be seen. He needs to homer 19 more times and drive in 46 more runs to reach the 300 and 1,000 marks, respectively; both marks are within the realm of possibility this season.

Perez's 2025 batting, which has been far better when he's his club's designated hitter, has nothing to do with the other big potential career achievement we wrote about during the offseason. The Royals' five-time Gold Glove catcher began the season 13 thrown-out runners short of 250, but is now only seven away from that mark.

Are there other KC Royals franchise marks Salvador Perez can reach this season?

Yes. Even if he falls short of 1,000 RBI, getting the 39 more he needs to move past Amos Otis for third on the club's all-time list is certainly realistic. Thirty more singles will allow him to take over sixth place from Gordon, who ended his KC career with 1,070.

And just four more extra-base hits will get Perez to 600; 28 will be enough to displace Amos Otis' 623 for fourth place, and three more after that will get him past Frank White for third. Scoring 27 more runs will move him by Mike Sweeney's 700 for seventh place.