Salvador Perez's impact can't be overlooked in Noah Cameron's rise in Royals rotation

Not much has gone the way of the Kansas City Royals in 2026 at 21 games below .500 on August 8. At this point, with postseason hopes having been out the window for months now, there's not much to play for, so it's all about finding the small moral victories. The one that sticks out in particular for the Royals right now is Noah Cameron's stellar stretch of starts.

Three starts ago, Cameron was in the midst of a miserable sophomore season with an ERA above five. But after being demoted to pitching behind an opener on July 24 in Detroit, something changed with Cameron. In his last three outings, Cameron has gone seven innings in bullpen in his bullpen game and eight innings in his last two starts, surrendering three or less hits in each start and one run combined in those three outings while striking out 24.

While calling his own games now has appeared to be a major factor in his success, the backstop he's throwing to has to be credited for his role in this as well. While Salvador Perez may not be calling Cameron's games, his veteran presence behind the dish has really had an impact. As mentioned by Chance Liebau on X this week, Cameron's numbers this season with Perez behind the dish have looked significantly better than with any other catcher, In eight outings with Perez catching, Cameron is throwing to a 1.94 ERA with 56 strikeouts.

He's a five-time Gold Glove award winner for a reason. Even if he's not calling games his calming influence cannot be denied and Cameron's rise back to form is only proving that.

Salvador Perez's days behind the plate for the Royals may not be over quite yet

It's no secret that Perez is struggling immensely this season. He's slashing just .216/.263/.374 with a 71 wRC+ and -1.1 fWAR. With how Carter Jensen has stepped onto the big league scene as rookie, it's clear to see the youngster has usurped Perez in the pecking order for backtops.

However, you can't deny the value of 14 years as a primary catcher before '26. He knows what he's doing and he's obviously still confident in his abilities, even if his blocking, framing and pop time marks are all very low now.

With the ability to play both first base and his shift to more of a DH role, that seemed to be the logical route for the Royals to take with him in the twilight stage of his career. However, perhaps he won't need to be just an emergency catcher after all. Veteran personal catchers are not a new thing to MLB, just look at Clayton Kershaw and his personal backstop for years in A.J. Ellis.

Is he the World Series MVP-caliber All-Star he once was? No. However, perhaps his role moving forward is becoming more clear in 2026 than some would think. Perez is a franchise legend, so there's no reason to believe he won't be here until he retires. It's just nice to see that Royals fans can still catch a glimpse of the Salvy they know and love - even if it is once every five games.

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