Royals' All-Star catcher Perez on DL with intercostal strain

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The Kansas City Royals put All-Star catcher Salvador Perez on the 10-day disabled list Sunday with a strain on the right side of his chest.

Perez was injured on a swing in the sixth inning Friday. The five-time All-Star is hitting .278 with 21 home runs and 65 RBIs.

''All of our core guys are really pretty indispensable,'' Royals manager Ned Yost said.

He said the ''worst-case scenario was four weeks'' for Perez being out with the right intercostal strain, but he was hopeful it would be in the 10-to-14 days range. Yost said the club is expected to know more Monday about the extent of Perez's injury when the swelling diminishes. The move was made retroactive to Saturday, when the Royals' game against the Mariners was rained out.

Drew Butera, who entered Sunday hitting .250 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 92 at-bats, will do the majority of the catching in Perez's absence.

The Royals recalled catcher Cameron Gallagher from Triple-A Omaha, where he was hitting .294 with five home runs. Gallagher, 24, was a 2011 second-round pick and will be making his major league debut.

With Perez and Butera in the World Baseball Classic, Gallagher received more playing time in spring training.

''He's very solid defensively,'' Yost said. ''He's hitting .290 at Triple-A. He's was very impressive this spring.''

This is Perez's third trip to the disabled list but first since 2013. He missed six games last season with a quad contusion.

''We've been through this before,'' Yost said. ''This is nothing new to us. You just deal with it and move on. Guys understand. We'll have Drew and Cam here to pick up the slack behind the plate. We feel like we can cover it.''

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