Kansas City Royals Notes: Felipe Paulino Done For Year, Salvy Perez Returns
The Royals will be getting their catcher back, but they’ll be losing a pitcher for the rest of the year. According
to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, Salvador Perez (often referred to as Salvy) will be returning to the lineup tonight for Kansas City, but Felipe Paulino, who recently hit the disabled list, looks destined for Tommy John surgery.
While the Royals have to be excited about getting Perez back after he missed the entire first part of the season, Paulino’s loss will hurt. And it won’t just hurt for this season. With the recovery timeframes for Tommy John surgery, Kansas City won’t see Perez back until this time next year at the earliest.
Paulino will be the third Royals pitcher this season to undergo Tommy John surgery. Joakim Soria went down with an elbow injury resulting in the surgery prior to the season’s start, and Blake Wood also had the surgery around the same time. Paulino has been on the DL since June 9th with what was thought to be a strained forearm. The team will now move him to the 60-day DL, and his season is over.
Paulino was 3-1 with a sparkling 1.67 ERA in seven starts and 37 2/3 innings-pitched this year before landing on the 15-day DL originally. In his career, Paulino has a 4.93 ERA. He’s been used in numerous different roles throughout his career, but the Royals felt they had found a place for him.
As for Perez, he suffered a torn cartilage in his left knee during spring training. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and has missed the team’s first 67 games. The 22-year old catcher played in 39 games with the Royals in his rookie season last year. He hit .331/.361/.473. Anticipation was high coming into spring training, and the team was excited to see what Perez could do in a full season.
He will return from the 60-day DL tonight, and the club will have to make a decision on who they will option to Triple-A Omaha. The Royals start a three game set in KC against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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