'Excited to get rolling': Royals' Classic stars back in camp

Vinnie Pasquantino played at least six games of FIFA on the game console and was drinking coffee by 4 a.m. before getting to the Royals’ spring facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Saturday morning. The Kansas City first baseman is still catching up on sleep after traveling across the world for the World Baseball Classic, but he wanted to move around a bit as he readjusts to Mountain Time.

“I woke up at 1:30 a.m. and forced myself to stay in bed until 3,” Pasquantino said. “I had to do something this morning.”

Pasquantino watched the Royals’ 6-3 loss to the Rockies at Surprise Stadium while the other half of the spring roster beat the Rockies, 8-1, in Las Vegas as part of the 2023 Big League Weekend. Pasquantino and Nicky Lopez, Team Italy teammates, will be eased back into the Cactus League schedule in the coming days, and the Royals should get their big league team back together soon as Opening Day nears.

Italy lost to Japan on Thursday in the second round of the World Baseball Classic. MJ Melendez will also return to camp soon after Puerto Rico lost to Mexico on Friday. Team USA (Bobby Witt Jr. and Brady Singer) took on Team Venezuela (Salvador Perez and Carlos Hernández) in an elimination game on Saturday night.

Only a couple of days removed from the tournament, Pasquantino is ready for MLB action again. He slashed .200/.273/.200 with Italy, so he’ll use these next 12 days before the season to dissect what went wrong and be ready for Opening Day. Lopez was the star for Team Italy, putting up a .474/.524/.632 slash line in five games, so the Royals' infielder will look to continue that momentum.

“I had a ton of fun, and for me, it was really good in terms of getting into real games,” Pasquantino said. “And I didn’t play very well. Now, I have a lot of things to work on, make sure I’m ready to go. It was like a litmus test of, 'Am I ready?' I thought I was. You never know what can happen. We’re just excited to get rolling again.”

The crowds in Taiwan -- the site of Pool A play -- and Tokyo, where Italy was eliminated by Shohei Ohtani and Team Japan in the quarterfinals, were “crazy,” Pasquantino said, and unlike anything the 25-year-old has experienced before. During pregame stretch at the Tokyo Dome, Pasquantino looked around and took in the sold-out stadium. The Royals are hoping that experience helps their young stars in future big games.

“It was like, ‘Wow, there are 45,000 people here,’” Pasquantino said. “There were 40,000 people there for BP. It was insane. It was really cool. … When we played Chinese Taipei in Taiwan, they brought in their own speakers and were going crazy.

"There’s no way to prepare for that. They had coordinated chants for each player, which is nothing I had ever heard before other than like walk-up songs. It slows the heart rate down for sure.”

Reyes and Isbel answer the bell

Two interesting names this spring to follow in the batter’s box have been Franmil Reyes and Kyle Isbel.

If there’s one thing we know about Reyes, it’s that he has tremendous power. He demonstrated that again in Saturday’s victory over the Rockies in Las Vegas, when he launched a 431-foot homer to center field in the fifth inning, his third of the spring. It seems Reyes will make the Opening Day roster thanks to his slugging, but something else he’s been working on is being more nuanced as a hitter.

“I think he’s had some pretty good success in the big leagues at times,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, it’s not unusual for a guy who has a lot of power to have some swing-and-miss. But what I’ve seen this spring that’s encouraging is he’s got the power, but he’s willing to shorten up and take what pitchers give him at times.”

He didn’t shorten up on his massive homer Saturday, that’s for sure. It left the bat with an exit velocity of 114.9 mph.

If there’s one thing we know about Isbel, who was enjoying a homecoming of sorts Saturday -- he went to the University of Nevada -- it’s that he’s a strong defensive center fielder and he’s going to get a chance to prove what he can bring to the Royals at the plate, as well. He helped that cause by going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

“This is my first look at him, but from what all the hitting guys are saying about him, this is the best he’s looked,” Quatraro said. “His at-bats have been better and better as the spring has gone on. I’m excited because he can run, he can bunt -- there are ways for him to [contribute] even if his swings aren’t getting him the results he wants.”