Salvador Perez's MRI comes back clean; Royals dodge bullet

The Kansas City Royals received some good news Thursday, as the MRI for catcher Salvador Perez came back negative, according to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan. The results of the MRI revealed no structural damage to the joint in his right knee, enabling him to potentially return in time for this weekend's three game set against the Rangers.

Perez left Monday's game with soreness in his knee, but managed to play in Tuesday's game. He was initially in the lineup yesterday, but wound up being a late scratch after his knee began to tighten up.

The 24-year-old Perez has been a highly instrumental part of the Royals' success this season. Despite a drop in offensive production from last season, he is still hitting .268/.304/.417 with a 100 wRC+, 3.0 WAR, and career-high 15 home runs, while providing superb defense from behind the plate. He is also, of course, saddled with what may be the biggest bargain of a contract in baseball, which led to a seventh place ranking in Dave Cameron's recent trade value list.

The loss of Perez would have truly been devastating for Kansas City, as he is arguably the Royals' best player next to Alex Gordon. With just a 1.5 game lead in the AL Central over what is a clearly superior team in terms of talent, the Royals entrance into October is far from a guarantee, and they are going to need all the help they can get to end their 28-year playoff drought.