Royals' Salvador Perez Swinging Hot Bat to Kick Off September
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While it has been a rough season for "Salvy" overall, he has been swinging the bat well since the second half began. The Captain of the Royals has also started the final month of play strong as he looks to finish the year strong in his new role.
In September, Salvy has slashed .357/.400/.643 for an OPS of 1.043 and a wRC+ of 190. During that span, he has tallied two doubles and two home runs while driving in nine runs. He is also hitting the ball hard at 89.0 mph on average during this stretch, and if we take out the September 1 game against the Marlins, he is averaging an exit velocity of 92.9 mph. He has been solid since the All-Star break as his role has changed.
The Role Change and Second Half Play
Salvy will probably no longer be the mainstay as the backstop of the Royals, as Carter Jensen has taken the reins as the starting catcher. That leaves Salvy as the designated hitter/first baseman for the foreseeable future and he has been solid since the change that began around the All-Star break. Since the break, Salvy has slashed .272/.323/.474 for an OPS of .797 since the break.
He has rebounded from an atrocious beginning of the season that saw him have an OPS of .593 in that first half of play. He has been the DH/1B since the start of July, and he has taken most of his second-half at-bats as the DH. In total, he has fielded 1B eight times since the break and has returned some of his form at the plate, given his 118 wRC+ since the break.
The Splits Show the Improvements
Salvy has been and will always be an interesting batter to analyze given his approach at times, but during the second half of the season, he has fixed some things. Numbers-wise, the power is back in the second half, with an ISO of .202, and with that, he has created his own luck, so to speak, with a .297 BABIP compared to a .232 BABIP in the first half.
Something that has been consistent this year for Salvy has been his ability to hit southpaws. He isn't mashing them, but he has a wRC+ of 103 against them this season. Another split that favors him, and the Royals in general, is that he is hitting way better at Kauffman than anywhere else, with a 106 wRC+ compared to a 52 wRC+ on the road. He has also been clutch in high-leverage situations, with a wRC+ of 124, and has a Win Probability Added of 1.39 in the second half of the season.
Getting out of the stats, Salvy has passed the eye test in the second half, as he has looked more like his usual self at the plate, swinging at down-and-away sliders way out of the zone and being clutch. Salvy has made considerable improvements in the second half of the season and will probably stay in this role going forward.
As he looks to finish the season strong, he will also look to continue rising up the career home run list by a catcher, as he sits at 322 career home runs, good for sixth behind Lance Parrish. If Salvy continues this stretch at the plate, we could see him secure fifth on the list sooner rather than later.
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Trey is no stranger to writing about the Royals as he has done it for 6 years now for various blogs (Kings of Kauffman, Inside The Royals, and Farm to Fountains). He is a graduate of Baker University with a degree in Mass Media with an emphasis in sports media. He enjoys watching and researching sports as well as gaming.
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