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Royals’ Salvador Perez, Matt Quatraro clear air after ‘mental breather’ mishap
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- Royals’ Salvador Perez, Matt Quatraro clear air after ‘mental breather’ mishap
Royals’ Salvador Perez, Matt Quatraro clear air after ‘mental breather’ mishap appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez made his opinion known after manager Matt Quatraro gave him a day off on Saturday. But now both manager and player appear to be on the same page.
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Quatraro specifically said Perez needed a, “mental breather,” which the catcher disagreed with. In the end, it seems to be a misunderstanding from both sides and a situation each party is looking to get past, via Anne Rogers of MLB.com.
“I’m good, my family’s good, everybody’s good,” Perez said. “I got reached out [to by] a lot of people yesterday after the game, and they sent me what [Quatraro] said. I don’t have any problem with [Quatraro]. We talked today. I know people were surprised I didn’t play yesterday, but everybody has an off-day in the big leagues. You know, it’s kind of hard to play 162 games, especially behind the home plate.”
“We’re in a good spot,” Quatraro said. “I think what stands out to me, the ‘mental breather,’ was, from my perspective, telling him the night before he wasn’t playing. So he can take some off his plate preparing for our starting pitcher and the game plan, the opposing starting pitcher. And just being a player every day, there’s a tremendous amount that goes into that for a guy like him. I think that’s where that became a little bit misconstrued.”
Perez, now 36-years-old, is in his 15th season with the Royals. He is bound to get days off, especially with top prospect Carter Jensen now at the major league level . However, it was the verbiage Quatraro used that caused a rift. The manager will now know how best to have Perez take on off day.
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Through his first 20 games in 2026, Perez is hitting .160 with three home runs and six RBIs. After his mental breather, the catcher will now have an opportunity to improve his numbers when he bats fourth for the Royals against the New York Yankees .
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