Early Saturday afternoon, Royals catcher Salvador Perez lounged in a leather chair in the corner of the visitors clubhouse, preparing to rest his sore side for another day. Lorenzo Cain laid on his back in the trainer’s room, receiving treatment on his tender right quad. Mike Moustakas appeared in a hallway on the other side of the room, shuffling on an injured right knee.
It is the middle of September. Every team in baseball is managing aches and pains, some more serious than others. But for weeks, the Royals’ clubhouse has had the feel of a mobile infirmary.