Royals C Salvador Perez exits Mets game with injury
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez left Sunday’s game against the New York Mets in the bottom of the fourth with an injury.
Mets right fielder Tyrone Taylor lined out to left fielder MJ Melendez. Melendez immediately threw home and Perez caught the ball to tag designated hitter Starling Marte out at the plate for the double play to end the inning.
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He has been diagnosed with a left groin/hip strain and will be evaluated further on Monday when the team gets to Chicago to face the White Sox.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better play on the defensive side aside from the injury,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “It was a clean slide. He just slid into his thigh and pushed his leg back.”
Freddy Fermin subbed in for Perez in the fifth inning and went 0-for-2 from the plate in the 2-1 loss.
Perez has had an outstanding start to the season.
On Saturday, he went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI and a two-run home run in an 11-7 road win over the Mets to notch his 250th homer of his career. He also hit a walk-off on Tuesday to get a 4-3 home win over the Houston Astros.
Perez, 33, has a .339 batting average this season with a .369 on-base percentage, a .565 slugging percentage, and a .934 OPS rating as well. He also has varied his positions in the lineup switching up from catcher to first base to designated hitter.
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His replacement, Fermin, is hitting .192/.222/.453 this season as well as producing solid defense behind the plate.
The Royals head to Chicago to face the White Sox at 6:40 p.m. on Monday.
