What happened with Salvador Perez? Royals legend isn't happy with manager decision
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What happened with Salvador Perez? Royals legend isn't happy with manager decision originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Salvador Perez isn't happy, and he didn't hide his discontent, either.
The Kansas City Royals' legendary catcher expressed his displeasure on social media on Saturday night, and it caught everyone's attention.
He seems like the last guy anyone with the Royals would want to make upset, but clearly, that's exactly what they did.
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What happened with Salvador Perez?
This stems from Royals manager Matt Quatraro giving Perez a day off Saturday.
This is how Quatraro explained it to reporters pregame:
"Just looking at the way things have gone, he's played in every game. Day game after night game, Carter (Jensen) was going to catch today, and Salvy's been struggling a little bit. Just try to give him a little mental breather."
Perez apparently saw that quote, because he posted this on X after the game:
I don’t need a mental breather— Salvador Perez (@SalvadorPerez15) April 19, 2026
(In case that tweet gets deleted at some point, it simply reads, "I don't need a mental breather.")
Making matters even slightly odder is that the Royals called up catcher Elias Diaz from Triple-A Omaha on Saturday night. It's not clear what that's in conjunction with yet.
The 35-year old Perez is off to a slow start to the 2026 season, just 12-for-75 (.160 average) with three home runs.
He's one of the best players in Royals history, and clearly he wants to be on the field. He's always been one of the leaders among catchers in games played.
On Saturday, though, he wasn't in the lineup, and he clearly didn't like the supposed reason why.
