Salvador Perez back in Royals lineup after first day off of the season

NEW YORK (AP) — Salvador Perez was back in the lineup for the Kansas City Royals after his first day off this season and posting on social media about not needing a mental breather. Perez was the designated hitter Sunday and said things between him and manager Matt Quatraro are fine. “No frustration, Zero frustration for us,” Perez said before the finale of a three-game series against the Yankees. “The people they don’t want to know what’s going on here. They can think and they can say whatever they want to say, you know, zero frustration. I don’t have time for that.” On Saturday, Perez was given his first day off since sitting out two games last August. Quatraro described it as giving him a mental breather. On Saturday night, Perez posted on social media: “I don’t need a mental breather.” “I know people were surprised I didn't play yesterday, but I think everybody has off days in the big leagues," Perez said. "It’s kind of hard to play 162, especially behind the home plate." “Everything’s fine,” Quatraro said. “Salvy and I have talked multiple times about it. We’re in a good spot. I think some of it comes from it’s a story when Salvy doesn’t play and there’s usually a follow-up question to how’d that go, how’s he feeling. “So it was just me trying to provide a little color to the answer that didn’t go the way it was intended and that’s really all there was to it.” Perez was the DH for the seventh time this season. Off to a slow start, Perez is hitting .160 with three homers and six RBIs in his first 20 games. Last season, the 35-year-old batted .236 — his second lowest-average in a full season — but hit 30 homers and drove in 100 runs for his third career 100-RBI season. Perez caught 92 games last season, was the designated hitter in 38 other games and also played 28 games at first base. He played 47 games at first base in 2024. To give Perez more time at designated hitter, the Royals added a third catcher when they selected the contract of Elías Díaz from Triple-A Omaha. Díaz signed a minor league contract with Kansas City in late-February and was hitting .226 at Omaha. Last season Díaz batted .204 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 106 games for the San Diego Padres. He is a career .247 hitter with 71 homers and 326 RBIs in 11 seasons for , and . \\_ AP MLB: