KC Royals catching position is still in good hands with or without Salvador Perez

After entering Friday night's series opener against the Baltimore Orioles fresh off a series sweep and riding a wave of momentum that only a 9-1 record in their last 10 games could have provided, things were looking up for the Kansas City Royals. Their offense appeared as alive as ever, their pitching was turning in stellar performance after stellar performance, and the bullpen continued to look more like the solid entity it was expected to be after a somewhat shaky start.

But despite all the fanfare, they did enter this series with one worrying detail looming large, as they would likely be without their catcher and team captain Salvador Perez.

While his recent .423/,444/.692 slash line since heating up on April 24 looked certainly missed in their 3-0 loss to the O's to start the three game-set, it wasn't due to his replacement in the lineup.

Freddy Fermin is keeping the KC Royals catching position consistently in good hands

While Perez and his years of experience manning the Royals' backstop will always be valued by the team, it's no secret that his days as a full-time catcher may be behind him, with the amount he plays at both first base and designated hitter these days.

When he's not behind the plate though, Kansas City has been spoiled when it comes to their backup, as Friday night proved once again just how valuable Freddy Fermin is to this ball club.

The Royals only came up with four hits against this Orioles staff, but it was Fermin who provided half of them via a two-out inning-saving single in the fifth and a late inning single to start the eighth out on a high note.

Fermin now has three straight multi-hit outings, seven hits overall in those three games and is now hitting .283 on the year.

This is representative of what the backstop gave them last season too, hitting .271 in 368 plate appearances. While his .685 OPS in 2024, and his current .680 OPS so far this season may not be anything to write home about, for a bench piece it's a respectable tally, especially when you factor in his sheer hitting ability and of course his defense.

Fermin proved he has Gold Glove capabilities after his 92nd percentile blocks above average rate and 95th percentile CS above average clip in 2024 earned him finalist recognition for the award at catcher. Now, he may not have the same defensive numbers through the first month and a bit this season, those types of skills seldom just leave a player. They may not reach 2024 levels this season, but considering he was a solid defensive catcher in 2023 as well, it's safe to say we can chalk that up to the fact it's still early in the season.

Fermin may never be the main go-to-guy behind the plate for Kansas City, considering Perez is still on the roster and the presence of a couple of Top 100 prospects in Blake Mitchell and Carter Jensen are set to be the future at the position. However, in situations like Friday night, when Fermin needs to play a stop-gap role, the way he's stepped up time and time again proves the Royals will never be without quality at catcher.