Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has surpassed Johnny Bench’s mark for power-hitting excellence by a catcher.
Perez, the perennial All-Star who entered the day tied with Bench for the most home runs hit by a primary catcher in a single season, hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on Monday in Cleveland.
The Royals beat the Indians 7-2 in the early game, getting home runs from Perez, Andrew Benintendi and Hunter Dozier.
Perez’s 46-homer total (and counting) now stands as the new standard. He’s also now just two shy of matching the single-season franchise record set by Jorge Soler in 2019.
Bench’s record of 45 home runs stood since 1970, the most by any player who’d played at least 75% of his games as a catcher.
Perez, who caught the first game of the doubleheader, had sat in a tie with Bench since Thursday.
Perez became the first catcher since Javy Lopez in 2003 with 40 homers in a season following his two-homer game Sept. 4 against the White Sox.
