The Royals recent deal with gives them three catchers on the 40-man roster, and the organization has considered carrying all three to open the season, general manager J.J. Picollo suggested Friday ( via Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star). Picollo voiced confidence that would break camp as the teams backup to but noted that theres a chance all three of Perez, Fermin and Nola could be on the Opening Day club. Thompson notes that Kansas City pursued Nola earlier in the offseason before yesterdays deal as well. Carrying three catchers could make it easier for the Royals to get Perez some extra time at designated hitter. Thatd be a boost to the teams overall defense, as while Perez graded as a plus defender and won five Gold Gloves earlier in his career, hes not the same defensive player now as he approaches his 34th birthday. Perez has long been one of the sports iron men behind the dish, working one of the largest workloads of any catcher in the game. Its natural that such heavy usage would take its toll on his 63, 255-pound frame, as would the Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2019 season. Even with that mi sed season, Perez has caught more innings (9,071) than anyone other than since the 2013 season. Even post-Tommy John surgery, in 2021, Perez Tyler Kinley Jersey led the league with a ma sive 44% caught-stealing rate behind the dish. That number plummeted over the two subsequent seasons, however, bottoming out at a career-low 14% in 2023. Statcast still credits Perez with solid blocking skills on pitches in the dirt, but hes also among the leagues least-effective backstops in terms of framing pitches by that same measure. Perez posted a combined 28 Defensive Runs Saved from 2012-16 and was roughly average from 2017-19, but hes been below average in each of the past three seasons, including -11 DRS in just 738 innings this past season. Fermin, meanwhile, posted strong defensive grades in 2023 and delivered a surprisingly solid .281/.321/.461 slash as a 28-year-old rookie. Theres an argument to be made that based on defense alone, he deserves a larger share of playing time than a traditional backup. Nolas defensive grades have waned as hes entered his mid-30s, but rostering him would make it easier for the Royals to DH Perez, start Fermin behind the dish and still have another catching option. Hes also spent time at first base and second base, with more sparse appearances at third base and in the outfield corners. Nola does have a minor league option remaining, so its also po sible he heads to Triple-A Omaha as a more conventional depth option. Turning to the Kansas City bullpen, right-hander has been slowed by injury to this point in camp, Picollo announced ( via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). The flamethrowing 26-year-old (27 next month) hasnt thrown off a mound in two weeks due to sorene s in his right shoulder, but the team anticipates hell have enough time to make six to seven spring appearances. Thats position him to be ready for Opening Day, a suming there are no setbacks with that ailing shoulder. Hernandez is coming off an unsightly 5.27 ERA in 70 innings last season, although a poor finish to the year torpedoed what had been solid numbers for much of the 23 campaign. Through the first four months of the year, Hernandez pitched 53 innings with a 3.57 ERA, 30% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate. Everything trended in the wrong direction over the final two months, however; Hernandezs strikeout rate nearly halved, clocking in at 15.6%, and his walk rate exploded to 17.8%. Six of the ten homers he surrendered last year came over his final 17 innings, and he would up yielding a grisly 20 earned runs in that time. Whether the shoulder was healthy to close out the season or was quietly bothering him, Hernandez showed for two-thirds of the season that he has the ability to be a key piece in the Kansas City bullpen. His health will be a notable factor for K.C. fans to track throughout spring training. On the other end of the health spectrum, the Royals welcomed first baseman back to the lineup Friday his first game appearance in more than 250 days since undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Pasquantino about the rigors of the rehab proce s not only the physical ones but also the mental difficulty of being sidelined. The 26-year-old called his time away from the field miserable, particularly given some added guilt stemming from the fact that he elected to undergo surgery at a time when the Royals were in Baltimore, just a three-hour drive from his native Richmond, Va. Friends and family had flocked to Camden Yards to see Pasquantino play, only for him to instead opt for a season-ending surgical procedure. Pasquantino offered plenty of candid comments on the nature of his rehab and detailed the intense video work he underwent during his down time as he studied all aspects of the game and searched for ways to improve. Pasquantino came roaring out of the gate in 2023, slashing .298/.383/.539 with seven homers and more walks (11.7%) than strikeouts (11%) in his first 163 trips to the plate. He fell into a deep slump thereafter, hitting just .167/.227/.278 in his next 97 trips to the plate before undergoing surgery. A healthy Pasquantino would be a boon for a Royals team that has spent aggre sively this offseason in an effort to turn the page on a series of losing seasons. Kansas City signed , , , , , and for a combined $109.5MM and traded for relievers and in an effort to a semble a better club. Theres a ma sive gap to close after finishing the 2023 season with 106 lo ses, but theres little doubting that Kansas City will be an improved club in 2024. Kris Bryant Jersey