KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royals catcher Salvador Perez had surgery on his left thumb Friday and was placed on the 10-day injured list.
The operation repaired the ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb, and he's expected to need eight weeks to recover, manager Mike Matheny said.
“We will use that (eight-week timeline) as a template right now, but you always have to wait and see how he feels, how the recovery starts to go,” Matheny said.
“Normally, when I hear anything about the thumb, and you hear surgery, I was anticipating we wouldn’t have him the rest of the season, so anything we that are hearing and sooner than that is good news for us.”
The 32-year-old Perez missed nine games with a left thumb sprain earlier this season, then left a victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday with the UCL issue.
A seven-time All-Star, Perez is hitting a career-worst .211 with 11 home runs a year after leading the majors with 48 homers and 121 RBIs.
