KANSAS CITY, MO. (July 2, 2021) – Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez announced today that he will participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday, July 12 (7 p.m. CT on ESPN) at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.

Perez will be the fourth Royal to participate in the Derby, joining Bo Jackson (1989), Danny Tartabull (1991) and Mike Moustakas (2017), while he’s just the eighth catcher to take part in the Home Run Derby and first since the Yankees’ Gary Sánchez in 2017.

The 31-year-old catcher currently ranks ninth in the American League with 19 home runs this season, which includes nine during the month of June, his highest total in a month in his career. He also ranks tied for second in the Majors with 128 “hard hit balls” this season (95+ mph exit velocity), one behind league leader Paul Goldschmidt. He’s hit 171 career roundtrippers, which rank fifth in Royals history.

Perez was selected to his seventh All-Star Game (2013-18, 2021) last night and will serve as the American League’s starting catcher for the sixth time in his career.