Kansas City Royals backstop Salvador Pérez tied the Major League Baseball single-season home run record for a primary catcher last Thursday, and now he has the record all to himself.
Pérez crushed home run No. 46 on the season in Game 1 of the Royals’ doubleheader on Monday afternoon in Cleveland. That breaks the record of 45 home runs hit by Johnny Bench in 1970.
No. 46 for Salvy!
He now has the most home runs in a season with at least 75% of games at catcher. 😳 pic.twitter.com/9l7A4ZKvPs
— MLB (@MLB) September 20, 2021
With his 46th home run, Salvy has passed Johnny Bench for the most home runs in a season by a primary catcher!#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/reGW8DY8mO
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) September 20, 2021
It’s also his 198th career home run with the Royals, moving him to second in franchise history.
Oh, and the 46th home run ties Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for most homers in the majors this season.
The 31-year-old had never hit more than 27 homers in a season (which he did in both 2017 and 2018), but he began taking his slugging to another level in the shortened 2020 season, when he had a .633 slugging percentage in 156 plate appearances (he has a .548 SLG in 617 plate appearances this season).
[Photo Credit: Bally Sports Kansas City; MLB]
