Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has been named an American League All-Star for the eighth time in his career. This places him second in Royals history behind George Brett, who holds the record with 13 All-Star selections. Perez will represent the Royals at the 93rd All-Star Game, which will take place on Tuesday, July 11 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
Perez, who was selected as a reserve, previously earned his first All-Star selection in 2013. From 2014 to 2018 and in 2021, he was the starting catcher for the All-Star Game. Among active catchers, Perez holds the record for the most career All-Star selections with eight.
His eight All-Star selections tie him with Houston’s Jose Altuve for the fourth most by a player born in Venezuela. The top three players from Venezuela in terms of All-Star selections are Miguel Cabrera with 12, Luis Aparicio with 10 (a 1984 Hall of Fame inductee), and Dave Concepción with nine (a two-time World Series Champion).
At 33 years old, Perez leads all Major League catchers (min. 60% games played at the position) with 15 home runs and ranks second among American League catchers with 40 RBI. He has achieved at least 15 home runs in eight seasons, which is tied for the 10th most among primary catchers in baseball history and is the second most in Royals history behind George Brett’s 10 from 1977 to 1993.
Perez currently has 499 extra-base hits, which is tied with Mike Sweeney for the sixth most in Royals history. Among primary catchers (min. 75% games played at the position), this puts him at 21st all-time, just five hits behind Jason Kendall’s 504 for the 20th spot. The all-time leader in extra-base hits among primary catchers is Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez with 934.
