KANSAS CITY -- A painful pitch to the elbow led to an early exit and a left elbow contusion for Royals catcher Salvador Perez in Monday’s 10-7 series-opening loss to the Braves at Kauffman Stadium. But the Royals’ captain seems to have avoided the worst-case scenario with negative X-rays -- and, in true Salvy spirit, is already talking about being ready to play on Tuesday.
In the bottom of the third inning, Perez was struck on the left elbow by a 94.4 mph fastball from Braves starter Spencer Strider. Perez immediately grabbed his elbow in agony as several players from the Royals’ dugout jumped onto the field, concerned about him.
The ball seemed to hit Perez’s elbow guard, but he mentioned postgame that he’s been wearing that same EvoShield guard since Spring Training and it might be time for a new one.
“It’s maybe kind of old,” Perez said. “I should get a new one, one a little more hard, maybe. When it’s this hot, they used to get soft a little bit. So we’ll get a new one tomorrow.”
Perez took some time with athletic trainer Chris DeLucia and manager Matt Quatraro to examine what was already forming as a bruise, but Perez stayed in the game at that point.
He caught the top of the fourth inning, and his spot in the order didn’t come up in the bottom of the frame. When the fifth inning began and reliever Taylor Clarke ran out from the bullpen, he was met by Freddy Fermin, taking over for Perez.
“It was hard for him to feel his hand, the last two fingers,” Quatraro said, referring to Perez’s ring and pinky fingers on his left hand.
That made it hard to catch the ball and grip the bat.
“I got the feeling back, like in the seventh, eighth inning,” said Perez, whose elbow was swollen and bruised postgame. “[Head athletic trainer Kyle Turner] was doing a lot of treatment with me. So we’ll be fine for tomorrow.”
Perez’s prognosis and optimism toward Tuesday was the good news from an otherwise forgettable Monday night. The Royals’ pitching staff tied a club record with 14 total walks against the Braves. That’s only been done four other times before in franchise history, the last being Aug. 5, 2006, against the Twins.
It was a hot and humid night, and pitchers’ grips on the ball were clearly an issue. Royals starter Rich Hill walked six and allowed four runs while needing 81 pitches to get through four innings. Kansas City was only trailing by two after seven innings, but the Braves’ four-run eighth inning against reliever Steven Cruz put the game out of reach, even with the Royals scoring three in the ninth.
“It was terrible,” Hill said. “Ball didn’t come out of my hand the way I wanted it to. Put the team in a bad position. Put the bullpen in a tough position to cover a lot there. So I take full responsibility for that loss, and [I’m] just going to get back to work tomorrow.”