Without Salvador Perez, here’s the Royals new cleanup hitter: Jorge Soler
Salvador Perez roamed the Kauffman Stadium field with his family Wednesday afternoon. Toting a large black brace on his arm to protect an elbow injury that will sideline him a year, Perez stopped to watch the Royals’ final batting practice before the 2019 season.
After a few moments, Jorge Soler stepped into the cage.
“He can crush it,” Perez would say. “He can hit the ball a long way.”
On Thursday, the Royals’ opening day lineup lengthened the connection between the two power hitters.
In the cleanup spot, Perez is out.
Soler is in.
Soler will be the team’s primary cleanup hitter, at least in the the season’s early weeks. He responded with two hits, including a double, and a pair of RBIs in the Royals’ 5-3 win Thursday against the White Sox.
“I feel good this year, and I worked hard just like I did last year and the year before,” Soler said through a translator, Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol. “Hopefully this year I can stay healthy and put things together.”
The lineup is dependent on it. The Royals lost 27 home runs when Perez underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow this spring. They are a team reliant on speed and pressing the issue on the bases, to be sure, but the long ball must come from somewhere.
And preferably the cleanup man. Perez occupied the spot for nearly two-thirds of his plate appearances last season.
Soler steps in after a frustrating year with the Royals. His swing and timing were much-improved from 2017, and he posted a .820 on-base plus slugging percentage in 61 games. But that’s all it was. Sixty-one games. Injuries prevented his inclusion in the lineup for the remainder.
“I’m hoping this is the year he can put together a full year,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He’s been a little bit unlucky with the injury bug, but was really coming on as an offensive force last year before he got hurt. We believe he’s going to be an offensive force for us this year.”
Thursday offered an encouraging start. After a run-scoring single through the infield in the sixth, Soler took advantage of White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez playing too shallow and popped it over his head, scoring Alex Gordon from first with two outs in the seventh.
A glimpse of his power. But certainly not the full arsenal just yet.
“Everybody knows (Soler) — we all know he’s got power,” Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi said. “I’m talking about the speed that we’ve got, but everybody knows Soler is going to hit his homers. That’s his game.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Without Salvador Perez, here’s the Royals new cleanup hitter: Jorge Soler."