Royal’s injury at WBC scares Astros’ Hinch

As a manager and former catcher, A.J. Hinch felt uneasy when he saw two Royals catchers collide, producing the most gasp-worthy injury of the World Baseball Classic.

In the ninth inning of Saturday’s Venezuela-Italy game, Salvador Perez was injured by his Royals teammate and backup, Drew Butera, who was attempting to score the winning run in a wild game in Jalisco, Mexico.

“That was a bizarre play because you had the pitcher as a cutoff man, who was rolling around on the field,” the Astros manager recalled Monday. “It’s just unfortunate that that happens. Very rarely do you see teammates competing against each other.”

Butera was easily out, but he tried to swerve to a corner of the plate and awkwardly tumbled into Perez’s left leg. Perez needed assistance leaving the field and reaching the Venezuela clubhouse.

“Those are the scary moments that not only do I not want to see our players impacted by this time of year by any game — WBC or spring training — I don’t want anybody else’s team either,” Hinch said.

An MRI revealed inflammation to Perez’s knee, but no structural damage. He will sit out the rest of the WBC for Team Venezuela. Perez had surgery in March 2012 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

A trend in all sports appears to be persuading the best players to forgo all-out participation in All-Star games and tournaments.

“We’ve seen a lot of top names, especially on the pitching side, who weren’t comfortable pitching at that intensity level this early,” Hinch said.

He elaborated that the players who get hurt in the WBC typically are the best on their major league clubs, which hamstrings the organizations.

“The replacement capabilities are just not there if something happens,” Hinch said. “It’s what creates the nervousness. The experiences that they’re gaining are profound and fun, but the risk is real. ... That feeling that everybody had in the pit of their stomach is magnified when it’s your player.”

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