Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Pérez crushed his 45th home run of the season in Thursday’s game against the Oakland Athletics.
No. 45 ties Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the current Major League Baseball lead in homers, and ties Johnny Bench (1970) for the all-time lead in homers in a season by a primary catcher.
Salvy is on another level. He's now TIED for the MLB lead with 45 homers. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/97sOxbgN3C
— MLB (@MLB) September 16, 2021
Salvy ties Johnny Bench's record for most homers in a season by a primary catcher (75 percent of games). pic.twitter.com/cYchlHqzP8
— MLB (@MLB) September 16, 2021
That’s quite a milestone day.
The seven-time All-Star and 2015 World Series MVP previously topped out at 27 home runs in a season, which he did twice (2017 and 2018). However, he had 11 home runs and a .633 slugging percentage in just 156 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 season, compared to a .553 SLG this season. So, he gave us a preview of the power surge last year.
What’s particularly incredible is that the 31-year-old is still red-hot 145 games into a season that has surely put a lot of wear and tear on his body as a catcher. He has homers in three straight games.
With Thursday’s game still in progress and 16 more Royals games to come, Pérez has plenty of time to secure the all-time catcher record for homers in a single-season. If he stays red-hot, maybe Salvy can even get to 50.
