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Royals catcher Salvador Pérez finished seventh in American League MVP voting, behind unanimous selection Shohei Ohtani of the Angels. Salvy tied for the league lead in home runs (48) and led the league in RBI (121) but finished far behind in more advanced hitting metrics due to his .316 on-base percentage. Salvy was 22nd in wRC+ at 127 and was tenth in bWAR among position players with 5.3.
Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. finished second, appearing #2 on every single ballot except for Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star, who voted for Salvy. Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays finished third, followed by Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, and Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez.
You can see the voting results here:
2021 AL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Angelshttps://t.co/BRvAXGPkaZ pic.twitter.com/NaPHiaWBDE
— BBWAA (@officialBBWAA) November 18, 2021
In addition to Worthy’s second place vote, Salvy received third place votes from Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com and Yuichi Matshshita of Kyodo News. Six voters left Salvy off their ballots entirely - Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com, Noah Trister of the AP, James Fegan of The Athletic. Evan Woodbery of MLive, Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media, and Levi Weaver of The Athletic.
AL MVP ballots via BBWAA: pic.twitter.com/0Eg6W0XPwp
— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) November 18, 2021
It is the most MVP support Salvy has ever received in a season. Previously, he earned a tenth place votes in both 2013 and 2020.
Salvador Perez finished 7th in the voting for A.L. MVP. He’s the tenth player in franchise history to finish that high, but just the third in the past 35 years. (Cain ‘15, George '90) #Royals
— Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) November 18, 2021
In the National League, Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper won his second MVP Award, winning over Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis, Jr., and Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford.
The finish may not have been as high as many Royals fans would have hoped for, but it does not diminish the kind of season Salvy enjoyed. At an age in which he should be declining, particularly after a major injury, he has upped his level of performance.