2012 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper Catcher: Salvador Perez

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is Mock Draft Central‘s 16th-ranked catcher. His overall rating of 329 puts him in the 28th round of 12-team leagues. If his brief taste of the big leagues is any indication, he’ll be a legitimate top-10 fantasy catcher before long.

In 39 games and 148 at-bats Perez batted .331 with 20 runs, three HRs and 21 RBI. His OPS was an impressive .834. Day or night, home or away, grass or turf, it didn’t matter—he got the job done.

He held his own against right-handed pitching, hitting .291 with a .711 OPS. Perez absolutely murdered lefties though, hitting a ridiculous .484 with a 1.285 OPS in 31 at-bats. He might as well have been facing minor league pitching the way he clobbered southpaws.

Speaking of minor league pitching, he hit at that level too. After hitting .189 for Single-A Burlington he steadily improved going to .290 for Single-A+ Wilmington and .283 for Double-A NW Arkansas. He topped if off by crushing it for Triple-A Omaha to the tune of a .333 average and .847 OPS.

Perez showed good plate discipline, only striking out 20 times in 148 big league at-bats after only whiffing 134 times in 1,228 minor league ABs.

The Royals have a nice young squad. With Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, Jeff Francoeur, Mike Moustakas and Perez they have the potential to do some damage. Can they compete with the likes of Detroit and the rest of the AL Central powers? Perhaps not, but they should be fantasy-friendly once again.

The one concern I have is the way Perez wilted when he faced the Red Sox and the Yankees. He handled his business against everybody else, but he combined to hit .143 against the two eastern powerhouses. Still, where you are getting him in fantasy drafts, he is worth the look.

Also check out:

2012 Fantasy Baseball Outfielder Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Third Base Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings