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Perez is not in Sunday's lineup against the Twins due to a right thumb injury, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
Perez sustained the injury on a wild pitch that hit him in the thumb Friday. He'll end up sitting for the last two games of the series against Minnesota, but with an offday Monday, the veteran backstop could be back in action for Tuesday's series opener against Texas. Carter Jensen will start at catcher Sunday.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Getting another rest day
Rotowire
Perez is not in Kansas City's starting lineup against Minnesota on Sunday.
Perez will be on the bench for a second consecutive game. Carter Jensen will handle catching duties while Starling Marte serves as the Royals' designated hitter for Sunday's series finale.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Day off Saturday
Rotowire
Perez isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Minnesota.
Perez will take a seat on the bench to begin Saturday's contest after going 1-for-8 with a sacrifice fly over the first two games of the series. His absence will put Carter Jensen behind the plate, giving Maikel Garcia a start at DH and Josh Rojas a turn at third base.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Receiving rare night off
Rotowire
Perez is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Reds.
Perez will head to the bench for just the third time all season, breaking a streak of 18 consecutive starts for the 35-year-old backstop. The night off comes while Perez has fallen into another offensive lull. Over his last five starts, Perez went 2-for-18 with a 1:4 BB:K to bring his OPS down to a career-low .615 on the season.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Goes deep in loss
Rotowire
Perez went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, an additional run scored and a walk in Monday's loss to the Yankees.
Perez tied the game with a 107.3 mph solo missile off Will Warren in the sixth inning, and the Royals later took the lead in the eighth frame on a Bobby Witt homer, though a bullpen implosion ultimately kept the club out of the win column. Perez has struggled overall, hitting .215 with a .638 OPS, nine homers, 25 RBI and 21 runs across 52 games, but he has swung the bat much better of late. Over his past 11 contests, the veteran slugger is slashing .308/.378/.538 with three homers, seven RBI and six runs.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Swats eighth homer in loss
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Perez went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Red Sox.
Perez got the scoring started by taking lefty Connelly Early deep on a 94-mph fastball in the bottom of the first inning. He later singled in the sixth and eighth innings, giving Perez his third three-hit game of the season. He saw his average dip below the Mendoza Line with two hitless showings in the first two games versus the Red Sox, but the veteran backstop is now slashing .211/.259/.368 with eight home runs, 21 RBI, 18 runs scored and a 9:42 BB:K across 201 plate appearances this season. After being in the 91st percentile with a 14.8 percent barrel rate last season, Perez is barreling just 8.5 percent of his batted balls in 2026. He's also experienced sharp declines in his hard-hit rate and bat speed at 36 years old.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Productive in win
Rotowire
Perez went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, a walk and a second RBI in Sunday's 2-0 win over the Cardinals.
Perez drove in the opening run with a first-inning sacrifice fly before adding a bit more oomph to hit a solo shot in the fourth. The catcher has two homers among seven hits over his last six games, a span in which he's batting .292 with four strikeouts. He's back above the Mendoza Line now, batting .205 with a .595 OPS, seven homers, 20 RBI, 17 runs scored and five doubles over 45 contests.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Blasts sixth homer
Rotowire
Perez went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 6-5 loss to the White Sox.
Perez crushed an outside sinker from Erick Fedde over the right-field fence for a solo homer to give the Royals an early 2-0 lead in the first frame, though Kansas City was unable to hold on in a disappointing defeat. The veteran backstop has long staved off Father Time, but he has shown notable decline offensively so far in 2026. Through 40 games, the 36-year-old is slashing .197/.238/.344 with six homers, five doubles, 18 RBI and 15 runs. Tuesday snapped a four-game hitless streak for Perez, who will look to build on the performance and heat up at the plate moving forward.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Receiving evening off
Rotowire
Perez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Tigers.
Perez hasn't started a game behind the plate since May 1 while he's been managing a sore hip, but he's remained in the everyday lineup at designated hitter or first base. He doesn't seem to be dealing with any sort of setback, but Perez will get a break for the series finale after going hitless in 13 at-bats over his last four starts. Carter Jensen will handle DH duties Sunday.
Royals' Salvador Perez: Limited to DH due to sore hip
Rotowire
Perez remains limited to designated-hitter duty due to hip soreness, Jaylon T. Thompson of The Kansas City Star reports.
The hip issue first popped up for Perez a few weeks ago. Just three of his last 15 starts have come at catcher, and he's making a sixth straight start at DH on Thursday. Royals manager Matt Quatraro indicated Thursday that Perez is unlikely to return to catching this weekend. Carter Jensen will continue to start behind the plate while Perez recuperates.
Royals' Salvador Perez: Tallies fifth homer Tuesday
Rotowire
Perez went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Tuesday's win over the Athletics.
Perez opened the scoring for the Royals with a solo blast off Hogan Harris in the sixth inning to tie the game at one apiece. After a slow start to the season, the veteran backstop has begun to heat up, going 6-for-15 (.400) with two homers and four RBI across his past three appearances. Overall, Perez owns a .196 batting average and .586 OPS with five homers, three doubles, 10 RBI and 10 runs through 28 games.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Launches homer Saturday
Rotowire
Perez went 3-for-5 with a home run, an additional RBI and an additional run scored in Saturday's win over the Angels.
Perez launched his fourth homer of the season with a solo shot to left field in the bottom of the second inning and later plated a run with an RBI single as he posted his second three-hit game of the year. Despite Saturday's strong outing, the backstop continues to have an underwhelming season with a .186 average and .555 OPS through 108 plate appearances.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said prior to Sunday's game that Perez could see more starts at designated hitter over the next few days as the veteran backstop has been dealing with a sore hip, Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City reports.
Perez will indeed be in the lineup at DH on Sunday, one day after he received his first day off of the season in what Quatraro termed a "mental breather." Though Perez disagreed on social media Saturday that he needed a break, his numbers back up the skipper. Over 81 plate appearances, the 36-year-old has a .517 OPS, which would be the lowest mark of his career by 175 points.
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Royals' Elias Diaz: Moves up to majors
Rotowire
The Royals selected Diaz's contract from Triple-A Omaha on Sunday.
The 34-year-old posted a mediocre .536 OPS over 35 plate appearances at Omaha, but he'll join the big club nonetheless to provide Kansas City with a third option behind the plate. With Carter Jensen receiving an afternoon off and Salvador Perez serving as the designated hitter in Sunday's game against the Yankees, Diaz will enter the starting nine right away at catcher and as the No. 9 hitter.
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Royals' Carter Jensen: Receiving rest Sunday
Rotowire
Jensen is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees.
After starting eight straight games at either catcher or designated hitter and going 7-for-27 (.259) with two home runs, six RBI and three runs, Jensen will get a breather. Salvador Perez will return to the lineup Sunday as Kansas City's DH, while newly promoted Elias Diaz makes his first start for the Royals behind the plate.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Idle Saturday
Rotowire
Perez isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees.
Perez will catch a breather Saturday after going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in Friday's series opener. Carter Jensen will handle catching duties for the Royals instead while Isaac Collins starts as the DH and Lane Thomas patrols left field.
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Royals' Salvador Perez: Goes deep vs. Tigers
Rotowire
Perez went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in Thursday's 10-9 loss to the Tigers.
The veteran catcher delivered in a big way, blasting a three-run homer in the seventh inning off Tyler Holton to extend Kansas City's lead. The blast was Perez's third of the season and ended up being a much-needed offensive breakout. Entering Thursday, Perez was slashing .149/.208/.269 with two homers, two rbi and 4:13 BB:K across 72 plate appearances, making this performance an encouraging sign for the 35-year-old.
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