KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has now broken the record for most home runs by a catcher in a single season and moved into second place all-time for home runs in franchise history.
Perez, 31, hit his 46th home run Monday in the fifth inning of the first game of a doubleheader at the Cleveland Indians. The blast put the Royals in front 7-0.
Johnny Bench swatted 45 home runs for the Cincinnati Reds in 1970, a record for the most home runs in a season by a player whose primary position was catcher.
The record stood for 51 years.
Perez now has 198 career home runs, breaking a tie with Mike Sweeney for the second most in Royals history.
The club records remains a long way away for Perez. George Brett slugged 317 career home runs, all with Kansas City.
Perez may not be done breaking home-run records during an astounding 2021 campaign.
Perez now sits just two home runs away from tying former Royals slugger Jorge Soler’s single-season home run record. Soler, who was traded to Atlanta in July, cranked 48 home runs in 2019.
Perez, the 2020 American League Silver Slugger Award winner, still has 14 games left to smash his way to another record.
We are witnessing history unfold on a daily basis. pic.twitter.com/PKEYG5pyg0
— Dave Holtzman (@DHoltzy) September 20, 2021
Perez's 46 bombs are the third-most by a Venezuelan-born player behind only Eugenio Suarez (49) and Andres Galarraga (47), according to Royals TV Associate Producer and reasearcher Dave Holtzman.
Of his 46 home runs, Perez has hit 31 while in the lineup as a catcher, which is four shy of the AL record (35 by Ivan Rodriguez in 1999).
He also leads MLB with 115 RBIs, the most by a catcher since Mike Piazza had 124 in 1999.
Perez is on pace for 50 home runs for 124 RBIs.
