Every year, a few baseball players manage to injure themselves in ways that simply make you shake your head. There was Sammy Sosa sneezing, Jeff Kent washing his truck doing stunts on his motorcycle, Joel Zumaya playing Guitar Hero, Jhonny Peralta opening a gift, Trevor Bauer fidgeting with a drone, Will Smith taking off a shoe. Well, this year is young, but Royals catcher Salvador Perez has already added himself to the list.
On Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours before Kansas City’s season was set to begin, Royals manager Ned Yost announced that Perez would miss four to six weeks with an MCL tear. How did the five-time All-Star suffer such an ailment? Well, he slipped while carrying luggage up a flight of stairs.
Salvy Perez slipped last night carrying his luggage and has MCL tear. Out 4-6 weeks.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) March 28, 2018
Perez’s injury is quite a letdown for a team already projected to rank among baseball’s worst. Kansas City went 80-82 last season, then watched Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, and Jason Vargas depart in free agency, while making zero notable additions. Catcher figured to be one of the Royals’ few bright spots, given Perez’s solid production and legendary durability. Instead, they’ll spend at least the first month of the season starting Drew Butera and his career .203/.258/.299 slash line.
Happy baseball season, Royals fans. It might be a very long one.
