A Salvy party breaks out at The K
On the 10th anniversary of his major league debut, Salvador Perez guides the Royals to victory. Because he wouldn't have had it any other way.
If Monday’s lid-lifter was enough to give you whiplash, and ultimately heartburn, Tuesday’s 8-4 Royals victory over the Yankess was a balm for whatever discomfort you may have felt. It was setting up for another back and forth night before the Yankee defense betrayed their chances and the Royals found those timely hits to punch the gas and pull away late.
The evening had a celebratory feel even before the first pitch. This was Salvador Perez’s 10th anniversary of his major league debut. For a player who has meant so much to the club, this was indeed a major milestone. One worth celebrating. And you know Salvy isn’t going to shy away from a party.
There’s no party like a Salvy party
So on this milestone evening, Perez decided to celebrate by hitting dingers.
Witness. Home run number one. Courtesey an elevated slider in the middle of the plate. First pitch. Salvy loves first pitch sliders.
And home run number two. This one was off an elevated curve that allowed Perez to extend his arms, launch it 38 degrees into the muggy Kauffman night and win some lucky fan $1,000 in the Sonic Slam inning. It may have been Salvy’s Party, but he’s the kind of host who will make sure at least one of his guests goes home with a little money in their pocket.
The first home run set a career-high for Perez in a season. After the second, he now has 29 dingers on the year. It’s just been an impressive summer from Perez.
Perez is currently sitting at a 123 wRC+. His two previous best seasons at the plate came in his rookie year of 2011 when he posted a 126 wRC+ in 158 plate appearances and last summer’s insane 162 wRC+ in the Covid-shortened 60 game scheduled when Perez had 156 plate appearances.
Barring a late season offensive collapse, Perez is on target to have his best offensive performance of his career over a full season in 2021.
I don’t know about you, but I still have my sights set on 36 home runs. Sure, it’s been bypassed twice in the last four years—Mike Moustakas hit 38 in 2017 and Jorge Soler blasted 48 in 2019—but that Balboni number is like Babe Ruth’s 60. It was the record for so long, it’s become iconic, linked forever to the franchise.
So the Salvy Watch is officially on. He needs seven home runs to hit the magical mark of 36.
Meanwhile, Perez added a single in the seventh and finished his night with three driven in on three hits. And his own celbratory Salvy Splash.
As I’ve written previously, Perez is quite simply a Kansas City Royals icon. With Danny Duffy gone, he remains the final link to the championship teams. (I’m not counting the reunion guys like Dyson, Holland and Davis.) It’s been a helluva career and a testament to his work ethic and love of the game that he’s putting up one of the best seasons of his 10-year career.
Party on, Salvy.
Finding some positives
It was a bit of a bumpy go for Lynch, but there were plenty of positives to take from his outing. Start in the first. After retiring DJ LeMahieu on a ground ball, Lynch walked Giancarlo Stanton on five pitches.
Against Aaron Judge, Lynch caught a couple of corners on a sinker and four-seamer. After setting him up with a low change on 1-2, Lynch climbed the ladder on a 94 mph fastball up and out of the zone.
If you look at where Salvador Perez set his target, the final heater was supposed to be inside. Lynch, perhaps trying to get a little extra on the offering, didn’t finish, leaving the four-seamer up and out. Judge saw high heat and just couldn’t help himself.
The real battle in the first came against Joey Gallo. As a lefty on lefty matchup, Lynch was much more aggressive than he was against Stanton and Judge, attacking the zone once he fell behind 3-0 on pitches away. After throwing five consecutive four-seamers to get the count full, Lynch delivered a slider that was placed perfectly to lock Gallo up for the third strike and the third out.
It was a nine-pitch battle, that while it went Lynch’s way, was not something you wanted to see on a hot and humid August night. It was 22 pitches total in the inning. A harbinger of Lynch’s night.
The second inning was Lynch’s best frame of the evening. Just look at this pitch chart. The mix…the location…Everything was working.
Four-seamers up. Sliders down. And the occasional sinker and change located on the edges. It really was a perfectly executed inning. It was capped off by a three-pitch duel against Kyle Higashoika who offered and missed at everything Lynch threw, including the spiked slider for strike three. You can see it in the above gif, just on the front edge of home plate.
The third inning required 24 more pitches from Lynch. As the Yankees flipped the order through for the second time, LeMahieu stung a lineup 102 mph and Stanton and Judge both singled. But Lynch still owned Gallo. Again, five consecutive four-seamers followed by a slider in a perfect location.
The gifs are cool, but to fully appreciate the battles against Gallow, the pitch charts must be consumed. The one on the left was in the first inning against Gallo. The chart of the right was in the third.
As the game moved into the middle innings, Lynch was still getting the occasional swing and miss, but his control was erratic. He wasn’t hitting the edges like he was earlier in the outing, but at least he was missing out of the zone, rather than in. Especially to this Yankee team. But a walk to Rougned Odor was costly when Higashioka homered. Walks to LeMahieu and Gallo in the fifth prevented him from completing the frame.
So while the line score of 4.2 innings with four hits and four walks along with three runs allowed isn’t an impressive one by any means, there was still plenty to like from Lynch on Tuesday. He got six whiffs on 12 swings against his slider. And six whiffs on 21 swings off the four-seamer. Overall, Lynch finished with a 40 percent whiff rate and a 33 percent CSW% (called strikes plus whiffs), both extremely solid rates. Hell, the whiff rate is exceptional. And holds plenty of promise for better starts ahead.
Roster moves
After Monday’s deathmatch where the Royals used seven relievers, they were obviously looking to recall some bullpen reinforcements. The move they made wasn’t surprising. Actually, it was very on brand.
After writing on Monday that the Royals needed to play Edward Olivares in the outfield at every opportunity, it looks like that’s going to happen. In Omaha.
I write that it’s “on brand” for the Royals because this is the time to take a look at some of the younger players in the organization. Yet they continue to insist rolling lineups out there with Michael A. Taylor or Hunter Dozier or Ryan O’Hearn. Dozier is a bit of a separate case than the other two, but with the year he’s had, he can certainly spend some quality time coming off the bench and hitting the reset button in preparation for 2022. Taylor is a pending free agent. And unlike Olivares, we have a decent idea of the type of player O’Hearn is.
I’m not saying that Olivares is a guaranteed star in this league. But I would like to find out how he could perform if given a starting role for six weeks or so. Can he make the necessary adjustments at the plate? Can he patrol center at The K? Can he handle the day to day grind of the major leagues? The Royals should have that curiosity themselves.
At least I’m fairly certain he will be back in Kansas City at some point.
Central issues
White Sox 3, Twins 4
Griffin Jax whiffed a career-high 10 and Willians Astudillo hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the sixth.
A’s 4, Cleveland 3
New acquisition Starling Marte started a rally in the eighth with a single and the A’s capped their comeback in extras courtesy of a Jed Lowrie double. Starter Sean Manaea didn’t get out of the second, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks.
Tigers 8, Orioles 4
Willi Castro doubled and tripled, driving in three. Jeimer Candelario hit a two-run home run for late-inning insurance.
The standings are kind of wild. Cleveland and the Tigers are level at 55 wins, but Detroit is four back in the loss column. The Royals have only three more losses than the Tigers, but they’re level with the Twins on 49 wins. With every team besides the White Sox now under .500, will there be a battle for second place? Oh, the intrigue!
Up next
The Royals go for a rare series victory against the Yankees by sending Brady Singer to the mound in his return from a dead arm. Singer was roughed up in a pair of Triple-A rehab starts. As of this writing, the Yankees have yet to announce their starter. First pitch is set for 1:10 CDT.