Royals' Perez claps back at Quatraro: 'I don't need a mental breather'

Kansas City Royals catcher and team captain Salvador Perez disagreed with manager Matt Quatraro's decision to leave him out of the lineup for the first time this season against the New York Yankees.

Quatraro said he omitted the "struggling" Perez from Saturday's lineup because the player needed "a little mental breather," according to MLB.com's Anne Rogers.

Later in the day, Perez posted on social media to dispute Quatraro's reasoning.

Quatraro discussed Perez's comment Sunday, acknowledging some miscommunication could've caused an issue.

"We're in a good spot," Quatraro said, according to Jaylon T. Thompson of the Kansas City Star. "I think what stands out to me is the mental breather was, from my perspective, telling him the night before he wasn't playing so he can take some off his plate of preparing for our starting pitcher in the game plan."

The skipper added: "There's a tremendous amount that goes into that for a guy like him. And so, I think that's where that became a little bit misconstrued."

Perez, who's back in the lineup Sunday for the series finale, also downplayed the disagreement with his manager.

"No frustration, zero frustration for us," Perez said, according to Larry Fleisher of The Associated Press. "The people, they don't want to know what's going on here. They can think and they can say whatever they want to say, you know, zero frustration. I don't have time for that."

Perez is hitting .160/.210/.307 with three home runs and six RBIs in 20 games this season. The 35-year-old has left 45 runners on base, the fourth-worst mark in MLB entering Saturday.

The nine-time All-Star is under contract through the 2027 season. He ranks second in franchise history with 306 career home runs.

New York beat Kansas City 13-4 on Saturday. The 7-14 Royals have lost six in a row.