Kansas City Royals catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez has had an amazing career.
He won the World Series with the Royals in 2015, and was the MVP of that Fall Classic.
He has gone to eight All-Star Games, won five Gold Gloves, and four Silver Slugger awards.
Perez hit his seventh home run of the season on Thursday against the Toronto Blue Jays, and is on a really good pace.
He now has 253 career long balls, and he is at a very good age still.
The whole package of achievements and the fact he is still playing at a high level prompted a famous MLB insider to make a strong claim.
“Salvador Pérez is a future Hall of Famer. He should make his 9th @MLB. All-Star team this year — and he only turns 34 next month,” Jon Morosi tweeted.
While some people might think it’s a rather bold claim, Perez certainly looks on his way to putting together a strong case for being in Cooperstown one day.
253 home runs for a catcher is a fantastic output, and even though he now plays some first base, he is still primarily a backstop.
He might still need to accumulate some other totals for more serious consideration, though: he has 1,443 hits, so he could use some more to pad his case.
While his .763 OPS for his career is not incredibly high, it’s very solid for a catcher.
Voters will surely have a fun debate on their hands when it’s time for Perez to be eligible for the Hall.
