Thursday, February 13

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SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Wednesday marked Salvador Perez’s 15th big league Spring Training with pitchers and catchers beginning their workouts at the Royals’ facility in Arizona, and while he might be older and wiser now, the Royals captain has the same attitude as that first Spring Training.

He wants to win.

“Win everything,” Perez said. “I’m going to come to the same answer I always have. To be a World Series champ. I think that’s the goal. Every team should think that way.”

And in many ways, Perez’s desire to bring Kansas City another World Series title has only gotten stronger with time. Individual accolades are nice, he says, but championships are better. And after winning it all in 2015 with this team, Perez wants to do it again. He and the Royals finally got back to the postseason last year and won their American League Wild Card Series against the Orioles only to lose in the AL Division Series.

“I think individually, at this point, all I want to do is win a World Series,” Perez said. “I thank God for all the awards -- Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, All-Star Game. But the biggest thing right now is to win, go back to the playoffs and win the World Series.”

As baseball returns and the 2025 season nears, Perez thinks the Royals clubhouse has what it takes to make a deep October run.

“One hundred percent,” Perez said. “We’ve got a great group to go for everything. … With these guys, they know how to do that. There’s a lot of experience here.”

Perez will have a big part of that. He’s about to embark on his 14th season in Kansas City, forever the stalwart behind the plate and leader in the clubhouse. And even at 34 years old, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down, something that doesn’t go unnoticed by his teammates or those around the game.

“The first thing that comes to mind is how he’s ready to play every day,” starter Seth Lugo said. “I know catching is a tough job. It beats you up back there. When he’s not catching, he’s playing first base. He’s always locked in every day. The way he’s been doing it year in and year out, you don’t appreciate it as much until you’re on the team with him and see him do it.”

Perez played in 158 games last season and slashed .271/.330/.456 with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs. He caught 91 games in each of the past two seasons and has increased his time at first base, with 49 appearances there last year.

This season is the final guaranteed year of Perez’s extension he signed four springs ago. The Royals have a $13.5 million club option for 2026 that they seem likely to pick up. Year after year, Perez keeps posting up, preparing himself to play 162-plus games every season. He’s not planning on stopping any time soon.

“We were talking about that today,” Perez said. “I love playing baseball. I know at some point, I’m going to be out of this clubhouse. So I’m going to enjoy my moments here. I feel like I can keep going.”

Perez paused, flashed a grin, then added: “For maybe 10 more years.”

With a 2-year-old and 4-year-old running around the house this offseason, Lugo was admittedly not tuning in to the MLB Network show that unveiled the Cy Young Award voting results this past November.

But finishing second to Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in the AL Cy Young race was a cool experience for the veteran Lugo, who is now entering his second year in Kansas City.

“It was special,” Lugo said. “Something I’ll never forget. But coming into this season, it’s a completely new year, and everything is a clean slate. You can’t rely on the past and expect any kind of results this year. You’ve got to get back to work.”

Perhaps the biggest reason for voters’ recognition of Lugo in 2024 was how much he threw. Lugo’s 206 2/3 innings was second-most in baseball behind Logan Gilbert’s 208 2/3 – a ranking that still seems to vex Lugo, who had a goal to lead the league in innings but only threw two innings in his final start of the season to rest for the playoffs.

Lugo was just one of four pitchers in the Majors last year who eclipsed the 200-inning mark, something that has become harder to achieve with pitch limits and a reliance on the bullpen in today’s game.

Lugo would like to buck that trend again.

“Two hundred, that’s my ultimate goal,” Lugo said. “As a starting pitcher, at least 150. If you’re healthy all year, you should be way past that. That’s kind of the low number for me. But to get over 200 would be great.”

“I would also like to lead the league in innings this year,” he added with a smirk. “Couple of innings short.”

For the past two seasons, pitching coach Brian Sweeney has come up with a motto for his pitchers that is typically printed on T-shirts and found in phrases throughout the spring. First it was Raid the Zone, then it was Reign the Zone.

This year? Not so much a motto, but a “framework,” Sweeney says.

“Raid the zone, reign the zone -- this year, I wouldn’t say there’s a motto, but there’s a framework that we go by that continues to build off those things,” Sweeney said. “And we like to think of it like the Crown Framework. … Controlling the zone, reducing tipping, overpowering hitters, getting weak contact, neutralizing the running game and fielding your position. Those are things we’re focusing on. The things that we can measure we can get better at. That’s going to be our focus.”

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