The countdown: Ranking Salvador Perez's 2021 home runs, part 3
In today's ranking of home runs number 35 to 31, this entry has a distinctive Second City feel.
Chicago. Home to deep dish pizza, the Sears Tower (or whatever it’s called these days) and Ferris Bueller. And it’s also a city Salvador Perez launched an aerial assault on in 2021.
As the Salvy home run countdown rolls on, this edition features a distinct Chicago flavor.
In case you missed the previous editions, or just want to relieve some Salvy blasts, here is the countdown so far:
Part One — Home runs 48 through 41
Part Two — Home runs 40 through 36
Let’s continue…
#35 — 8/4/21 @ Chicago White Sox
This one is a fun one. (Although it could be argued that it’s more fun than the previous 23 home runs, but less fun than the upcoming 20.)
Everything about this is perfect. Perez had already taken White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito deep earlier in the season. The Royals had already touched him for a run in the first and two in the second. He was scuffling. After allowing a single to Carlos Santana to lead off the third, Perez works the count full.
“Let’s see if he challenges him with a fastball.”
— Rex Hudler
I mean, how perfect is that? The pitch is up and in, but no matter…Perez was looking high fastball. The swing has the right amount of controlled violence. When you see the bat greet the ball, you don’t need the cutaway to the fans beyond the bullpen in left. You know exactly where the ball is going.
This was Perez’s 27th dinger of the season, which tied his career high. In early August!
#34 — 9/4/21 vs Chicago White Sox (2)
More inside cheese. More crime against the South Siders.
And another milestone as this was the 40th home run of the year for Perez. The way he crushes this baseball is not unlike the damage he imposed on Giolito above, so it’s kind of weird that the ball barely clears the fence and in fact, there is some confusion as the ball bounces back on the field. That’s Kauffman for you, I suppose.
Among AL Central rivals, Perez absolutely destroyed White Sox pitching in 2021. I imagine he circled these series on the calendar. Talk about doing some damage.
sOPS+ is the OPS+ relative to the league. In other words, Perez was 89 percent better than the league average hitter against White Sox pitching in 2021. Quite the change as he really used to scuffle against them prior to missing the ‘19 season.
#33 — 8/20/21 @ Chicago Cubs (1)
#32 — 8/20/21 @ Chicago Cubs (2)
Turns out Perez was an equal opportunity destroyer of Chicago pitching, laying waste to both the Cubs and the White Sox. Actually, these were the only two hits Perez had against the Cubs in 2021, but you get the point. Zach Davies was the victim of both bombs, the first one opened the scoring for the Royals.
The second one gave the them lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
If you needed to choose a single game that perfectly encapsulated Perez’s power barrage in 2021, it would have to be this one. The first home run is on a waste pitch designed to get him to chase, a 78 mph change up that’s nowhere near the strike zone. Of course, Perez goes down and golfs it into the bleachers. The second home run is an elevated 3-0 pitch that, as I mentioned, gives the Royals the lead.
It really didn’t matter the type of pitch, the location, or whether the count favored the pitcher or Perez. He was crushing. And so many of his home runs put the Royals on the board for the first time in the game or provided the tying or go-ahead run.
Home run number two was the 80th RBI for Perez on the season, which tied a career-high.
And I have to say, those Cubs uniforms were dreadful.
#31 — 9/4/21 vs Chicago White Sox (1)
I told you Perez hit a ton of dingers against the White Sox. Nice of them to bunch together so we can keep this entry Chicago-centric.
This one came in the same September game featured above at number 34. Weird game, that one. The Royals fell behind by three early, then six…then clawed their way back to cut the deficit back to three, then the Sox pushed it back to six…before the Royals cut it to three again. With Cam Gallagher on base (you can see him running when the ball streaks across the Kauffman sky), this was the first time the Royals pulled back to within three.
Perez drove in five runs with his two dingers, but it wasn’t enough.
When the 2021 season started, Perez had 152 career dingers, good for seventh-most in franchise history. We know the Royals’ history isn’t littered with home run hitters. George Brett is obviously the club’s most prolific power hitter with 317 career blasts. There’s a bit of a cluster behind Brett with Mike Sweeney (197) in second followed by Amos Otis (193) and Alex Gordon (190). This home run was Perez’s 191st, which moved him ahead of Gordon and in to fourth place on the all-time Royals home run list.
Coming soon…the top 30.