The Kansas City Royals had been thinking about making the move for a while, so when general manager J.J. Picollo approached catcher Salvador Pèrez and asked him to consider playing more first base, the executive was ready with his argument:
Pérez scoffed. , he said.
, Picollo said.
That was all it took. Pérez, a nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glover and four-time Silver Slugger at catcher, has spent a third of his time at first this season. (Even on those days, he does not entirely relinquish his role; he sits in meetings with backup Freddy Fermín and still makes mound visits from first base.) The result? At 34, Pérez has put together one of the best seasons of his career and helped key the Royals to a likely playoff berth, their first in a decade. The people around him are talking about enshrinement in Cooperstown. Pérez thinks about that honor—“I think any player [wants that],” he says—but right now, he is focused on one thing.
“What I want so bad is for these guys to make it to the playoffs, because I know when you make it to the playoffs, and you feel that energy, that crowd—next year they’re just gonna want that again,” he says. “ I didn’t know until 2014 how that feels. But after that …”
He smiles. He knows how it feels. And he wants to feel it again.
