2025 Fantasy Baseball: Salvador Perez Profile, Preview, Predictions
Salvador Perez has clutch-ability, which is highlighted by his big-game moments. His runs tend to rank below the top catchers. He brings a free-swinger approach with some batting average risk due to his slow foot speed.
OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!!!
— FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City (@FanDuelSN_KC) August 27, 2024
Salvador Perez hits a grand slam for his second home run and sixth RBI of the game. 🤩 #Royals pic.twitter.com/UCDXw4lU7L
C – Salvador Perez, KC (ADP – 71.9)
Perez's best asset at this point in his career is his ability to drive in runs. Last season, his RBI rate (20 – 19.0% from 2020 to 2024) was helped by an improving Royals’ lineup. Despite playing in 158 games, he scored only 58 runs, with a sharp decline in his run rate (28 – 38% in 2023). His contact batting average (.347) is trending higher while remaining well below his success in 2020 (.439) and 2021 (.376). Perez set a new top in his walk rate (6.8) while posting his best strikeout rate (19.8) since 2017.
His swing played well vs. left-handed pitching (.297/17/9/25 over 145 at-bats). Perez played at a high level over the first two months (.321/24/10/41 over 209 at-bats). He had a regression in his HR/FB rate (13.0) for the third consecutive season while maintaining a high fly-ball swing path (44.5%). His exit velocity (91.1 mph) and hard-hit rate (44.2) fell in line with his career path (90.3/43.6).
Fantasy Outlook: The injury to Vinnie Pasquantino last season helped Perez get more playing time at first base (49 games). His bat has event upside with clutch ability, and Kansas City should push further up the offensive ranking in 2025. At age 34, he isn’t the player he once was. His underlying metrics don’t point to more power, and I expect him to be a liability in runs, even with elite at-bats for a catcher. Last season, Perez ranked 48th for hitters in FPGscore (1.22). My starting point is a .260/60/25/80 type season, making him a fade based on his current price point.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.