Salvador Perez is back in the MLB playoffs with the Royals and ready to face the Orioles

BALTIMORE — Salvador Perez spent some time on the eve of his return to the MLB playoffs catching up with old pals who were his teammates the last time he — and the Kansas City Royals — played beyond the regular season, way back in 2015: Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain.

Perez is not merely the only member of that group on the Royals these days; he's the only one still in the majors.

Asked Monday what it's like to be back in the postseason nearly a decade after earning World Series MVP honors while helping KC win the title, and the only guy from that championship still with the team, the 34-year-old catcher from Venezuela let out a hearty chuckle as he replied, “I feel old.”

It's been a long and difficult path for the Royals to make it to October again and a matchup with the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series on Tuesday. There have been three 100-loss seasons in that span, including a low mark of 56-106 a season ago, and a roster sprinkled with 20-somethings such as AL batting champion Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and MJ Melendez wanted to get Perez another shot.

“They talked about me a lot,” Perez said. “Like, ‘Let’s get Salvy back to the playoffs.’”

He's in his 13th season in the majors, all with Kansas City, and made his ninth All-Star team this year. He's won five Gold Gloves. He's a lifetime .267 hitter with 273 homers, 916 RBIs and a .762 OPS.

And, as anyone with the Royals will tell you, he's much more than that.

“He’s a Hall of Famer. I mean, I learned so much from him. He does all of his homework, as well. We brainstorm before the game. He’s been doing this for a long time. He’s really good at it, obviously. … Just trust him,” said left-hander Cole Ragans, who will start Tuesday against Baltimore's Corbin Burnes.

“I’m looking forward,” Ragans said, “to seeing postseason Salvy.”

Did Perez worry he might not get the chance to be in that position?

“I don’t like to think that way. ... We all can see a bad season, but I think we learned from that," Kansas City's cleanup hitter said. "That’s the good thig about baseball. I always say, ‘I love baseball because we have opportunity every day.’ So it doesn’t matter how you do today; tomorrow’s going to be another day. I try to think positive.”

That might not have been easy during 2023, in particular.

After all, entering this season, only two teams in major league history had made the postseason a year after losing 100 games. These Royals raised that total to three, with Perez leading the way.

“His contributions are enormous. Day in and day out, offseason included, he’s never taking a minute to not think about how he can help the organization, the team, the city,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He's larger than life in every aspect of his persona.”

___

AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed.