Royals catcher Salvador Perez stood several paces in front of the Nationals Park bullpen in left field on Tuesday night, waiting for Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale to emerge before the start of MLB’s All-Star game.
Perez has gone through this warmup routine three consecutive summers now. He and Sale have combined to form the American League’s starting battery since 2016. When that streak began, Perez was barely eight months removed from winning a World Series Championship. He was still riding the high of being named the World Series MVP in 2015.
He’s long since come down.