Royals’ Salvador Perez adds AL Comeback Player of the Year to list of honors
The Kansas City Royals spent the entire 2019 season without star catcher and slugger Salvador Perez due to elbow surgery, but the club’s 30-year-old fan favorite and team leader made his presence felt and produced an undeniable impact in a pandemic-shortened season this summer.
Thursday night Perez won the American League Comeback Player of the Year as voted on by MLB.com’s 30 beat writers. The honor came one day after he earned All-MLB First Team accolades as the top catcher in the majors.
Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Daniel Bard won the National League Comeback Player of the Year.
“This award is about hard work and gratitude to all the people who helped me get back on the field,” Perez said in a video posted on the team’s Twitter account.
Perez also thanked his friends and family for their support as well as Royals head athletic trainer Nick Kenney, assistant trainer Kyle Turner, physical therapist/rehab director Jeff Blum as well as bench coach/catching coach Pedro Grifol, hitting coach Terry Bradshaw and special assignment hitting coach Mike Tosar.
The six-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner, Perez underwent Tommy John surgery to repair damage to ulnar collateral ligament to his throwing arm in March 2019.
After missing the entire season and spending the year rehabbing, Perez returned to action during spring training before the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shut down all MLB camps. He got a late start to spring training 2.0 after he contracted the coronavirus, and he missed 20 games during the season due to a stint on the injured list for blurred vision.
Along with All-MLB honors, Perez also won his third Silver Slugger Award this year. A panel of AL executives also selected Perez as The Sporting News’ AL All-Star catcher in October.
He was a finalist for the Players Choice Awards Comeback Player of the Year selected by members of the Major League Baseball Players Association. The Players Choice Award went to Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who came back from a cancer diagnosis.
Perez set career highs in batting average (.333) and slugging percentage (.633) while playing in 37 games. He led the Royals in home runs (11), and ranked second in RBIs (32) and extra-base hits (23).
His 11 homers tied for third most by a player who played in 37 games or fewer, behind Frank Thomas’ 12 in 34 games in 2005 and Ted Williams’ 13 in 37 games in 1953 when Williams missed most of the season as he served in the military during the Korean War.
Perez is the second Royals player to claim the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award from MLB. He joined former teammate Mike Moustakas (2017).
Pitcher Bret Saberhagen also earned Comeback Player of the Year honors from The Sporting News and United Press International in 1987.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Royals’ Salvador Perez adds AL Comeback Player of the Year to list of honors."
