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Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez to participate in Home Run Derby

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez will participate in the All-Star Home Run Derby at Coors Field, he announced on social media Friday.

He joins Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles, Pete Alonso of the New York Mets and Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies in the July 12 derby.

Perez, 31, becomes the fourth Kansas City player in the derby after Bo Jackson (1989), Danny Tartabull (1991) and Mike Moustakas (2017).

He also joins Gary Sanchez as the only catchers in the derby in the last decade and will attempt to become the first one to win it.

Perez, a seven-time All-Star, entered Friday ninth in the AL with 19 home runs. He has the fifth most home runs in Royals history with 171 -- which are the most among catchers since Perez's first season in 2011.

Alonso won the most recent derby in 2019.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.