Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez to miss at least two weeks with sprained thumb

The Kansas City Royals are enduring a rough start to their 2022 MLB season and head into Wednesday night's game at the Chicago White Sox holding a lackluster 13-22 overall record. 

Kansas City was hit with more bad news ahead of that encounter. 

Per the Royals' official website, seven-time All-Star catcher Salvador Perez has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb sprain that he suffered in his first at-bat against the White Sox in the opening contest of Tuesday’s doubleheader. Perez initially remained in the game but was pulled in the seventh inning. 

According to an ESPN piece, Perez is on track to miss at least two weeks of action. In a corresponding roster move, Kansas City recalled catcher Sebastian Rivero from Double-A Northwest Arkansas. 

Royals manager Mike Matheny told reporters Perez wanted to play in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader. 

"He knew he could play through it, but the issue is: 'What are we risking here?' We don't want to risk a season-ending injury if it gets worse," Matheny explained. 

"Hopefully it can get better soon and [I can] get back to the field," Perez added. "It’s hard, but it’s something that I don’t have control [of]." 

The sprain is on Perez's glove hand and, thus, could require him to remain sidelined for multiple weeks until he can again catch without discomfort.

Thus far this season, Perez is batting .206 with six home runs and 16 RBI across 34 games. Per ESPN stats, the 32-year-old finished the 2021 regular season tied for the league lead with 48 home runs and had an MLB-best 121 RBI.