Salvador Perez named AL Comeback Player of the Year

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez continues to receive recognition for his stellar 2020 season.

Major League Baseball named Perez the American League Comeback Player of the Year on Thursday evening. The Comeback Player of the Year Awards are officially sanctioned by MLB and have been presented annually since 2005 to one player in each league who has re-emerged on the field during the season. The 30 team beat reporters from MLB.com selected the winners from an original list of 30 candidates (one per MLB club).

The Comeback Player of the Year Award was Perez’s third major honor of the offseason, as he also earned a Silver Slugger Award and was named to the All-MLB First Team.

Perez, who missed the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, returned to the field in 2020 and hit a career-best .333 with 11 homers and 32 RBI over 37 games played. The 30-year-old added 12 doubles, 22 runs scored, 17 walks and one stolen base, while recording a .353 on-base percentage and a career-high .633 slugging percentage, which was the second-highest in franchise history behind only Hall of Famer George Brett, who amassed a .664 mark during his AL MVP Award-winning season in 1980.